Rocket and the Imp
by kersync
Summary: Drunk and depressed on Knowhere, Rocket encounters a being of his own kind. Can they work together to piece together their past and save the lost souls of Halfworld, or will they succumb to the dark forces of a mystical beast and a crazed rabbit? An excessively explicit love story. [Rocket/OC] [BlackJack/Lylla]
1. Southern Nights

**A/N: Hello there reader, I'm Kersync! :) Thanks for stoppin' by! This lil' Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction is something I've been wanting to write for quite awhile now! After seeing the movie for the first time back in 2014, I had immediately developed a love for the characters, settings, aesthetics and themes. Being a huge Sci-Fi fan, this film was pretty much everything I could've wanted, and the universe it had introduced was perfect for exploring! So after seeing the movie, and all the other films in the MCU, I took to the comics and read pretty much everything there was on the 'New' Guardians of the Galaxy. As I read through, it became pretty clear to me that Rocket was by far my favorite of the Guardians. There was just something about his witty, aggressive and introverted character that I found distinctly unique and interesting! I also thoroughly enjoyed the way he'd interact with the other people around him. It was a bit later when I developed a love for the Rocket Raccoon comics – more specifically, the 2014 comic series. In my opinion, it truly did the best job of illustrating that there was so much more to his character that was on the surface, and that he let others see. It also showcased his sarcastic, conniving, and lovable nature in a variety of entertaining situations. The humor, the wit, the action, it all made for an extremely enjoyable read. Now personally, I love the high-octane, filled-with-guns-and-explosions action genre - but if I had to choose, I'd go with the emotion, passion and love that the romance genre offers. And having read a great deal of Rocket Raccoon comics, I didn't find much of that. This got me asking that classic question - "What If?" ...What if Rocket Raccoon found a love interest? In this story, I plan to explore just that, as well as Rocket's past, how he deals with emotions he'd never felt before, and of course, falling in love! Enjoy! If it's bad, please leave a review and I will try to make it less bad. :D**

 **things to note:**

 **i take elements from various Rocket Raccoon comics, but the characters are depicted very differently from their comic book counterparts - for example, the character Sale in this story is nothing like Captain Sale from the 2014 comic series**

 **-in an AU that takes place after the events of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie**

 **-contains blood and gore**

 **-also contains hot raccoon sex**

* * *

Rocket and The Imp

[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]

Chapter One – Southern Nights

* * *

In the dangerous, ruthless, lawless streets of Knowhere, a figure watches over all. An infamous ghost. A shattered soul. A wanderer with nowhere left to go. Over the course of a few short years, this mysterious entity had become a feared local legend. A metal-faced specter who routinely neutralized the most evil and corrupt criminals in all of the lawless land - bringing morality the most immoral place in the entire galaxy. Mysterious and unknown to all. A masked menace to the scoundrels and sinners of Knowhere, and a savior to the innocent. Evildoers would call it nothing more than a glorified vigilante, the biggest nuisance in Knowhere, and they'd always refer to it by the same name.

The Imp.

Atop one of the tallest buildings in the mining colony, it stood. Its red eyes glowed and its black cloak gently shifted with the wind. The rooftop was a large, expansive area with dark gray metal jutting out in several odd places. This, in combination of the high altitude, the surrounding view of outer space, and the huge cavernous walls of the inner skull of Knowhere, all created quite a morbidly serene place to reflect. The Imp walked over and sat on a overturned crate near the edge of the roof, to overlook and observe a populated street.

After a few minutes, and once sure that there was no one nearby, the Imp took a deep breath, pulled back its black silk hood, and removed the cybernetic face plate. The mask was composed of vibranium with an added dark tint. Near the middle of the plate were two red cybernetic slits, resembling a pair of angry, evil eyes. The Imp sighed and began to reflect on the day, as it usually did at this time.

 _"Finally caught him today. V'Lytau the Slaver. His screams were fucking annoying. Freed his 'inventory' – twenty poor Iellian females. Also stopped four mugging attempts today. Tourists should really stop coming here. All in all, I could say it was a pretty productive day. Been awake for thirty hours. I can barely keep my eyes open, yet I can't fall asleep. The fuck is wrong with me?"_

A freezing cold chill flutters deep in its chest. Feelings of pessimism, depression, and soul-crushing fear began to return. As always, it began its methods to suppress and forget them.

 _"Don't...Don't."_

Being a public enemy and wanted dead by about ninety nine percent of Knowhere's citizens led the Imp to realize something. One in its position must have no weaknesses, no doubts, no fear, and no room for error, if one were to survive.

Whenever the Imp detected even the slightest amount of uncertainty within, it reminded itself of its montra.

 _"Don't be weak."_

But today was different.

It...didn't work.

The Imp didn't know why, or how, but it felt a difference in the air. The Imp's uncertainty was consuming itself, again, and it began to ponder the questions that it never dared to think about.

 _"I'm...not weak - Weak souls would've crumbled under my circumstances. I know this. But...that isn't what is wrong, now is it?"_

A stressed sigh exited its lips.

 _"Then, what is it? What... **is** it?"_

The Imp took a deep breath, a cold, icy sharp chill stabbing at its heart. Slowly, it removed a black leather glove, staring at the furred, shaking paw in front of its lavender eyes.

 _"Where did I come from?"_

Its blood ran cold.

 _"Am...am I all alone?"_

Thoughts began to completely overwhelm and swallow the specter into a pit of emotional darkness. The Imp felt the entire universe collapsing around it – growing genuinely terrified and profoundly angry at itself for courting the dangerous thoughts.

Then it heard footsteps, and its eyes shot open.

 _"Adult Male. About...three hundred plus pounds. Armed. Ten meters away. Nine meters. Eight."_

The Imp quickly put on its cybernetic mask, whipping around to turn towards the offender.

He was just as it suspected, a large, hulking, blue alien wielding some sort of metal axe. The attacker quickly sprinted forward, shouting some expletives in its native language, no doubt.

The Imp drew its pistol, and taking short, shallow breaths, it flicked a dial on the edge of the gun's barrel – effectively setting the gun's explosive damage to maximum. All previous thoughts left its mind, as the Imp aimed the laser pistol at the offender.

 _"Don't be weak."_

The Imp didn't care to question this man or his motives, nor did it need to. The Imp was a target, always a target, and this thug was now another enemy. With no second thoughts, it pulled the trigger. A miniscule explosive projectile expelled from the barrel, seamlessly sliding into the man's skull before he could even swing. After a split-second, the projectile detonated, and exploded with a deafening boom and a sharp crack of bone. The blast sent remnants of the offender's head scattering all over the rooftop, and dark crimson coating the roof in a ten meter radius. The lifeless body fell forward, splatting into a large pool of blood, as that ever-familiar thud of a dead body hitting the wet ground echoed throughout the night air.

The Imp walked over to the corpse, taking a deep breath, finding its thoughts stabilized at the calming act of violence.

 _"Don't be weak...Don't...It's...It's not about being happy. It's about being safe - staying alive."_

It turned on its heel, walked to the edge of the building and hopped off, grabbing a pipe to break its speed. The Imp threw its feet on the side of the brick structure, arched its back and and flipped off, landing perfectly on two feet.

The alleyway was dark and foggy. The Imp's mask glinted red and lit the way. Knowhere had no suns within the distance to light the planet enough to give the illusion of a daytime cycle, so the planet was in a perpetual state of night. And in the night, the Imp found solace in the darkness and the shadows.

After just a few minutes of walking through the alleyways, the Imp heard something. The sound of rattling cans, and some swearing.

The Imp ducked and hid behind an overturned dumpster, waiting and obtaining information.

"...who would want to kill me? And pay 30,000 credits for it?!" said a gruff, stressed voice.

Upon hearing this, the dark specter pulled its pistol from its side belt, running its fingers up the cold, inviting texture of the grip.

 _"Some scared outlaw coming to terms with their first bounty? That's cute. And sad."_

"30,000 is an awful lot for you to not know the reason." it quipped, before turning the corner of the dumpster and aiming its pistol.

The outlaw jumped in shock. Had it not been for the Imp's mask, the individual would have clearly seen the Imp's own eyes widen in shock, for the sight before it, was a raccoon.

 _"A bipedal raccoon,"_ It thought. _"A distraught, bipedal, rugged, lean, raccoon- what?"_

The Imp shook its head and approached him once more, pistol drawn and aimed at the animal's head. He appeared flustered, frustrated, confused, and...drunk? Without a thought, the Imp approached him again, stepping into the dim violet light.

The raccoon spoke.

"I got more than 30,000 credits if you'd let me-"

"Shut up." The Imp interrupted, "Who are you?"

"You saw the bounty, shouldn't you know?" He fired back, his voice sounding raspy and agitated.

The Imp hadn't seen it, although she usually checked bounty listings around this time.

"What are you? How many of you are there?" The Imp questioned.

"What? I'm the only one! The fuck are you getting at?" He barked.

"There has to be more." it growled.

The Imp's heart was racing. Everything it thought it knew was changing.

 _"I'm not the only one. I'm not alone. Who is he? He's just like me. Kinda. He's putting his arms down. He's approaching me."_

The Imp noticed its pistol was shaking slightly. It brought it back to its full height and aimed directly at the raccoon. The raccoon's eyes faltered a bit. The Imp saw a weakness within him, and was reminded of its own. It quickly flicked a dial on the edge of the gun's barrel, effectively setting the gun's explosive damage off, and quickly changing the gun's setting to 'stun'.

He started to speak again when the Imp pulled the trigger.

The recoil was the weakest the Imp had ever felt, the energized pellet shooting out of the barrel and into the raccoon's face. Within moments, he became discombobulated, falling back onto the dirt and mud, motionless.

The Imp stepped forward, and squatted to get a closer look. It took its glove off, and placed it on the unconscious raccoon's neck. There was still a pulse.

 _"He's fine. He's also a fucking raccoon. I can't leave him here. He may have answers. And...he looks just like me."_

It performed a touch motion onto the side of it's faceplate, enabling it's HUD, and displaying its route home.

The Imp then turned back down to look at the raccoon, and met his closed eyes.

 _"Well, almost like me."_

* * *

Hours Earlier

* * *

Rocket stumbled across Knowhere, dispelling his thoughts and worries about his friends, and deciding he'd be better off not caring.

The months following the defeat of Ronan seemed to be some of the best days of Rocket's life. With his previous criminal record expunged by the Nova-Corp, along with a new life and new friends, he felt a warm feeling of odd, unfamiliar joy. It was definitely something he was unaccustomed to. Not that he was complaining of course.

Not yet, at least.

Eventually word spread throughout the galaxy of the Guardian's heroics, and several employment opportunities were made available to them. Within just a few months, the Guardians have accomplished an impressive number of heroic acts. Each experience and adventure had brought the team closer together, optimizing their teamwork and enlightening their spirits. Although incredibly dangerous and life-threatening, the raccoon wouldn't have it any other way. Rocket needed adventure in his life. And there stood the problem.

It had been months since their last mission, and it seemed the galaxy was safe for the time being.

However, the months of the doing nothing but that same routine with the same people with the same music, wore him down. The last straw occurred not to long ago, when Star-Lord had once again refused a contract Rocket had accepted on account of it being too shady and immoral. An argument spiraled from there, soon turning physical and past the point of no return.

It led him to quit.

It was never meant to be a permanent thing, but as days turned to weeks, it soon began to feel that way. So there he was, having just landed on Knowhere and looking for something to do. As he walked past the droves of people, he did his best to ignore the looks he was getting. But he could never pretend they weren't there, and it fueled his rage to end. Rocket looked up ahead, spotting what seemed to be a bar, judging by the large neon universal sign for alcohol, and picked up the pace. He walked through the front doors and was assaulted by a cloud of musky smoke.

It was a dimly lit bar, reeking of toxic liquids, foreign odors that were probably poisonous to him, and was just overall incredibly musty. The sound of angry, alien chatter filled the air. The bar seemed to be only half full. Rocket approached an empty barstool with empty seats to the left and right of it. Just the way he liked it. Like most stools, and chairs in general, the raccoon embarrassingly had to make a short jump just to be able to situation himself into a sitting position. Once settled, Rocket called to the bartender.

"Hey! Can I get a drink over here?" He inquired with a raspy, annoyed tone.

"Do you have the credits to cover that?" the elderly barkeep condescendingly asked.

"'Course I do!" Rocket lied.

"What'll it be then?" He exhaled.

"I, um, really don't care." Rocket deadpanned.

The barkeep grabbed a bottle covered in alien text and poured Rocket a glass. Grabbing a hold of it in his furred paws, Rocket sniffed the liquid. It was an odor he'd never smelled before, but it wasn't bad. He took a sip.

 _"It's fine."_ He thought.

Rocket furrowed his brow. He stared hard at the dirty metal counter, hopelessly looking for a solution to his existential crisis within the elaborate rust stains.

 _"I'm getting sick and goddamn tired of this 'Hero's code' bullshit."_

He sipped the toxic liquid again.

 _"Fucking - about a year ago, I would have been happy to just be alive. To, at best case scenario, score a huge bounty and make some credits. To get my hands on the deadliest armaments the galaxy had to offer. To do whatever the hell I wanted with no regard for morals."_

He chuckled.

 _"But I think...I think I've grown out of that. Hell I still love blowing a hole through some sorry fucker's head, don't get me wrong, It's just...I..."_

He swallowed his emotions with another drink.

 _"Now what fucking reasons do I have to have a goddamn existential crisis like this?! I pretty much have everything I want."_

Rocket stopped and stared at the solid black liquid, staring at it until the surface became calm. He looked at his reflection, and a paw traveled up his face to rub against the fur of his cheek.

 _"...Do I, though?"_

His train of thought was interrupted with a thunderous impact nearby. He turned to see a large, hulking purple beast sitting in the stool beside him.

"Aye barkeep, I think your bar's infested!" The brute cackled, pointing at Rocket.

"Now that wouldn't be a slight to me, would it, fatass?" He fired back.

"Hah! It talks!"

"Ya know, if I hadn't just ingested about a quarter of my weight with this toxic shit, I'd just about claw your fucking eyes out!"

They both shared a laugh.

"Now why do I get the feelin' I've run into your stinky mug before?"

"I dunno, ever heard of the frickin' Guardians of the Galaxy?," Rocket asked, his voice slurred and rich with sarcasm. "Or have you heard of any other four-foot BAMFs round here?"

"Ya know, actually, I have..." The brute said, pulling out a tablet.

"'Course you have. Wait, which one were you-"

"Holy FLARG!" He exclaimed, his eyes widening at his phone. "Now how'd ya get a bounty of 30,000 credits on your head?"

"What the fuck is a flarg?" Rocket burped. "And w-what're you talking about, I didn't do shit-"

Just then the large beast pulled out a knife and pointed it at Rocket's neck, a gleeful expression on his face.

"Best part? It pays even more for you dead!" He chuckled wickedly.

Rocket rolled his eyes, annoyed at the beast's horrible attempt at a threatening pose. He grabbed the hand holding the knife and twisted it at a horrific angle. The beast screamed, hearing the tendons in his wrist tear and pop, dropping the knife and jumping off the stool. Rocket followed suit, frustratingly stomping to the front door. Just then, an orange alien beast stepped in front of his path, blocking him and drawing a pistol.

"Freeze, rabbit!" The beast growled, his pistol charging up and beginning to fire.

With a deafeningly loud blast and a blindingly bright flash of white, Rocket leapt to the side, expertly dodging the plasma bullet. He slid under the beast's feet in an attempt to escape, only to be kicked in the face by another attacker. His hands shot up to grip his snout as it throbbed in pain. He quickly realized that he was in the worst possible planet for having such a large bounty on his head. Apparently, Knowhere is full of thugs who would be willing to kill for money. Who knew?

The raccoon quickly pushed himself off the ground after tumbling backwards, and almost tripped.

 _"Could kill everyone in here if I wasn't so fucking drunk-"_

He got up just in time to avoid a gunshot from another attacker, push over a table, and duck behind it to scope out the bar and look for any point of escape. He spotted a back door. Rocket pushed the table over again as a distraction, then bolted for it.

Swinging the large steel door open, he stumbled outside and found himself in a wide opening near a heavily populated street. He then spotted a narrow crevice between two buildings and quickly ran toward it, maneuvering and scampering his way through, and eventually ending up in an alleyway.

It was incredibly dark, only being slightly illuminated by a nearby purple neon sign. The alley was also miraculously quiet, save for the hiss of steam rising from an exposed pipe and the muted, distance sounds of city life.

Rocket looked around. There was no one.

Then he lost it.

In a drunken rage, he shouted. After taking out his frustration on a few piles of garbage and cursing some more, Rocket threw his shoulder bag to the ground and sat up against a wall. He held his head in his paws, confused and bewildered.

"Who would want to kill me? And pay 30,000 credits for it?" He asked himself.

He then heard footsteps.

"30,000 is an awful lot for you to not know the reason," a digitized, bit-crushed voice answered.

Rocket quickly stood up, looking both ways for the source of the sound. Before he could reply, the sight of two red, glowing eyes at the end of the alleyway frightened him into silence.

 _"Fucking assassins…"_ He mused.

The eyes were approaching him.

Rocket felt his back for his weapon – it wasn't there.

 _"Shit! It's in my fuckin' bag-"_

His thoughts were cut short as the figure now was now closer. A large, slim pistol became visible in the dim purple neon light – aiming directly at his face. Being angry, exhausted, confused and drunk, he felt he didn't have enough fight in him to go for the attacker's gun. Instead, he shot a threatening glare and slowly lifted his paws up.

"I got more than 30,000 credits if you'd let me-"

"Shut up." It interrupted. "Who are you?"

"You saw the bounty, shouldn't you know?"

"What are you? How many of you are there?"

"What? I'm the only one! The fuck are you getting at?"

"Are there more?" The figure asked, it's robotic voice changing pitch slightly, almost as if it's voice cracked. The figure stepped closer, it's full form being illuminated in the light.

 _"Female assassin?"_

The figure was his height, had an armored tail, and was…visually voluptuous.

 _" **Curvy** assassin?!"_

Rocket's heart fluttered, and his mind drew a blank. He slowly lowered his arms, and took a step forward.

 _"Are you-"_

The figure shot.

The last thing Rocket recalled was a purple light on a feminine form, dark and dastardly red eyes peering into him, and a blinding blue flash. Then it was over.


	2. Fox On The Run

**Rocket and The Imp**

 **[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]**

 **Chapter Two – Fox on the Run**

* * *

Rocket awoke with a massive headache.

He immediately shot up, tightly gripping his head as waves of sharp pain pulsated throughout his brain. Slowly he began to regain his other senses. The first thing he noticed was how his irregular breaths echoed oddly off the walls of...wherever he was right now. He shifted uncomfortably as he felt the dried mud, sweat and dirt itch unpleasantly all over his fur. He then felt the cold hardwood floor beneath him as he slid up against the wall. Rocket stared out and furrowed his brow. There was no light in the room. Fortunately, his excellent night vision allowed him to easily examine his surroundings.

There was absolutely nothing in the room.

Rocket quickly stood up, confused and a bit frightened.

 _"Where am I? Just what the fuck happened last night? Okay...I came here to...Knowhere...I went to the bar...there was a bounty, a fight...I uh, I went to the alley and..."_

As he was pacing around the empty room, trying to piece together what had happened the night before, his shoulder bag caught his eye. He quickly stumbled over to the knapsack, picking it up and rummaging through the contents.

 _"Everything's here."_

Rocket grabbed his Pocket-Dimension Storage Vial – a small device that allowed him to store an infinite amount of objects within it. From what he could remember, he'd recently stored his Mk-II Laser Cannon in it. Pressing the red 'eject' button caused a small, bright force of light to emit the tip of the vial, and sure enough, Rocket's trusted firearm materialized in front of him and dropped to the floor with a loud thud. He quickly tossed the vial into his knapsack, threw the bag over his shoulder and picked up his gun. Switching on the flashlight attachment on his rifle, he slowly surveyed the room once more.

 _"Okay. the bounty...the fight, the alley...and then that...that devil-eyed robotic fuck! That's what must've brought me here."_

He was almost certain there were was no point of entry into this mysterious room, until he turned around and realized he had been sitting up against it. Rocket placed an inquisitive paw on the door, quickly pushing it open then stepping back, aiming the gun into the next room. It was a large, open space and led into a hallway. He noticed that at the end of the hall, there was a light was emitting from one of the rooms and the door was slightly ajar. He cautiously paced down the hallway. The raccoon was filled with rage, confusion, and a slight tinge of fear as he quickly turned the corner into the room.

A dirty light bulb with an orange glow illuminated the interior of a small office. The walls were covered with drawings, strange hieroglyphs, and pages ripped from old books. In the center of the room stood a large metal desk with journals, piles of papers, and an impressive computer setup. As Rocket approached the desk, he suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched. He quickly whipped around, and found that he was aiming his gun at the same specter from last night.

"Now why would someone want you dead, Rocket?" the robotic, bit-crushed voice asked.

The figure stood in the doorway, staring angrily at the raccoon, sending a shiver down his spine.

 _"It's the same height as me...what the hell is this thing?"_

"Well I'd consider it an occupational hazard," He deadpanned.

"Ah, yes. How honored I am to be meeting a 'Guardian of the Galaxy'..." The digitized voice teased, stepping through the doorway and into the light. "A protector of the innocent, a savior, a hero!...getting chased out of a bar in the scummiest planet in the Galaxy."

 _"Oh yeah. She's a chick."_ Rocket realized, as the specter stepped forward and was illuminated.

"Ouch," He chimed sarcastically. "Tough words from a goddamn bounty hunter. That's what you want, right? The bounty? The price over my head? Or did you just wanna kill a 'Guardian of the Galaxy' for the fuckin' street cred? So hurry up and tell me 'cause I'm getting sick and goddamn tired of this!" Rocket shouted, jabbing his gun at the specter's face, finding himself very eager to pull the trigger.

In a flash, the Imp grabbed the barrel of Rocket's rifle, slammed it into his face, then took hold of the gun and aimed it at his head.

"First of all, the bounty is gone. It was posted from an unknown and very, VERY suspicious source, and I took the liberty of neutralizing it's signal and removing the listing so it can't appear again."

Rocket looked taken aback, his eyes widening and his scowl faltering.

 _"The fuck?"_

"Well thanks," He began, licking his lips. "But why would you-"

"Secondly," The Imp interrupted, "I had no idea who you even were until a just few hours ago."

Rocket's ego was a bit hurt. The two stood in silence for a few minutes, as he waited for the Imp to continue.

"Lastly, I kept you here because..."

About a minute passed, the specter simply standing there and appearing to wither down from its threatening stance. Her paws began to visibly tremble.

"...I don't..." she exhaled in a whisper, clearly frustrated and conflicted.

"What? Because what...?" Rocket questioned.

The Imp saw her hands were shaking. She needed to do something before she had a relapse, so she threw the gun to Rocket. He was bewildered, and he felt the confusion-induced rage that had built up begin to melt away.

She then stepped back and removed her helmet.

Time seemed to slow as Rocket witnessed this mysterious, masked figure press its gloved hands to the front of its mask, and pull on it.

The first thing Rocket noticed was the hazel fur.

 _"Fur? What? What is-"_

His thoughts raced as she continued to lower her mask, revealing two large, vibrant, lavender eyes. They were clearly feminine with long, luscious lashes and graceful black eyeliner.

She was also a raccoon.

It was at this point that Rocket's mind drew to a halt, completely overrun with an influx of confusion and emotions he'd never felt before.

Her face plate dropped to the floor with an audible clash.

"Because I wanted answers," she finished.

She waited for Rocket to answer, but he simply stood there as if he'd just seen a ghost.

 _"A female raccoon. She's so fucking beautiful. God her fur looks so shiny and smooth and silky and her eyes are the most gorgeous thing- what the f-"_

"Rocket?" She asked.

The raccoon snapped him back to reality, and he got choked up.

"Ahem-uhm-..,Yeah, what's up?" He said nonchalantly, feigning a calm and collected attitude, as he leaned back against the desk behind him.

"I need to know," She began. "Do you know where you- we... came from?"

Rocket's carefree persona came crumbling down as that single question triggered memories of torture, pain, and suffering. His rage began bubbling back.

"What?" He spat.

"I don't remember my past. I-...I'm trying. Surely you must know something. We came from the same place."

"Oh, and you're certain of that?" He snapped.

"How could we not?"

"It's a big universe. Lots of people."

"Have you ever seen another raccoon?"

"No, but-"

"You're hiding it, aren't you?" She inquired, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm not hiding anything." He asserted.

She gave him an annoyed, fierce glare, and suddenly Rocket felt utterly weak and small.

 _"Those fucking fierce violet eyes...They're like deep space..."_

"I don't want to talk about it." He said.

She had to pry.

"Why not?" She questioned.

Rocket felt very tempted to spill out the contents of his heart, when that familiar rage overcame him once more, masking his biggest insecurity.

"The fuck does it matter to you? How bout you answer my question: Why do you care so much?"

A glimmer caught her eye. Just below Rocket's neck, a bit of metal peeked out. She let out a small, barely audible gasp. The Imp stepped up to Rocket, much to his nervousness and discomfort, and removed her glove. She moved her hand up to the cybernetic implant and felt the cool metal with her index finger.

"Wh-what are...you doing?" He nervously uttered, feeling his fur grow warm under this raccoon's finger pads.

She stepped back and began removing her concealing black cape.

Rocket was aghast, confused, scared, and...excited. She threw her cloak to the ground, revealing a plain gray tank top, which allowed him to see the cybernetic implants underneath her own neck.

"They're the same." She stated.

Rocket's mind split into two parts – one that realized that she and he could have originated from the same place – and the other that relished in just how curvaceous and attractive she was.

 _"H-h-holyfuck, she's...fucking...thick..."_

"Y-yeah," He uttered, mind scrambled.

The two stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity, before she extended her paw to him.

"I'm Sale."

Rocket slowly and gently took her paw in his.

 _"Her paw is incredibly soft."_

"Rocket."

She chuckled.

"Yeah, kind of a late introduction, isn't it?"

They awkwardly chuckled.

She stepped past him, walked over to her desk, and began to speak.

"Sorry for kidnapping you. And...zapping you. I just wanted to talk."

Rocket nodded.

"Can we talk?" She asked.

He attempted to shut her down once more, denying to open his heart up to this stranger. However, his train of thought was cut short as he realized how close she was to him.

 _"Jeez she so fucking hot and she smells like tea-"_

"Yeah, fine."

Sale offered him a slight smile.

"I know a place. Let's go."

Rocket briefly pondered his situation. The bounty was gone, and there wasn't any immediate danger – other than the fact that this new female raccoon was scaring the shit out of him.

She walked past him, handing Rocket his gun back. Nothing more than a simple gesture, but symbolic for their newly amicable relationship. She then picked her mask and cloak off the floor, and effortlessly put them back on.

"Follow me."

* * *

 **Earlier**

* * *

Sale had awoken from her slumber when she had heard sounds coming from down the hall. Rocket stirred, and was awake. She moved into the shadows and stayed out of sight, as she watched him come down the hall wielding a very large rifle of some sorts.

 _"Impressive."_ She thought to herself, a small smirk traitorously appearing on her face.

Then he approached her office. Sale didn't want the guy fucking up her carefully organized research, so she proceeded after him. Their second-ever interaction went just as well as the first, with Sale getting sick of Rocket's whiny, aggressive barking and aiming his gun at her. It was then when she revealed what she now knew about the bounty – that it was extremely suspicious and unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Afterwards, he was persistent that she reveal why she would even confront him in the first place, and go so far as to bring him to her apartment.

She knew the answer she had to give was precarious - a true matter of her soul. It was her only weakness, and she had little choice but to reveal it to this stranger. And as illogical as it seemed, even the promise of a slight glimpse into her clouded past had blinded her with hope. So, for the first time that she could remember, she acted on emotion alone, and removed her mask.

Rocket stared at her in amazement.

 _"Ah. So that's what I looked like when I first saw him. And...he's totally checking me out. He's not even being that subtle about it."_

Afterwards, the conversation had turned hostile once more, with Rocket becoming violently defensive about his memories and his past. She could sense there must have been some pain there that he was blocking out, but she grew tired of his antics. She had just opened up to him, why couldn't he do the same? Rocket continued to deny the connection, and Sale grew frustrated.

Then, she saw it - irrefutable evidence that they were from the same origin.

 _"Gotcha."_

She quickly shed her coat and gloves, and approached the now-flustered raccoon. Mentally chuckling at his discomfort, Sale blushed just a bit, realizing the effect she had on him. Just mere seconds ago, he was yelling, aiming a gun at her, now he was visibly flinching under her gentle touch. She was, of course, pointing out the metal cybernetic implants that shone on both of their clavicles.

After this irrefutable evidence, the air was clear, and the tension seemed to dissipate. Something had changed in his eyes – they were no longer filled with anger and fear, but curiosity and skepticism. She could work with that. So they shared proper introductions and took off to an undisclosed location.

In the span of just an hour, Rocket soon realized he hadn't known as much about Knowhere as he thought he did. The secret passageways and alleys that Sale led him through bewildered and disoriented the raccoon.

"Jeez, you sure this is the only way?" He asked, sidestepping a large puddle and hopping a chain-link fence, all the while trying to keep up with Sale's pace.

"Lived here as long as I can remember – I think I know my way around." She quipped.

Rocket rolled his eyes.

"Just seems a little...inconvenient, don't ya think?" He grunted.

"I prefer to stick to the shadows." She turned to look at him.

"What're you, a fuckin' ninja?"

Sale grinned behind her robotic face plate.

"Stealth is kind of required. I, too, have a lot of enemies, Rocket."

"Really?" He asked, with a poorly-hidden hint of concern in his voice. "How'd that happen?"

"Long story." She said bluntly.

"We got time, right? How far is the place?"

"Eh, we're close."

The two continued through Knowhere, under tunnels, through alleys and over buildings, all to avoid detection and remain hidden. Rocket thought more about his current situation, and his newfound freedom to do whatever he wanted. And he really wanted to get to know this raccoon. His thoughts were interrupted as Sale stood still, waving a paw to Rocket, signaling him to stop and wait.

"What-" He started.

Rocket didn't get to finish. Sale had tackled him and pushed him behind an overturned dumpster, as she huddled up next to him, silencing him with a finger to his mouth.

Two large, hulking, heavily armed alien thugs soon passed by the two.

Sale knew she could've easily neutralized them, but didn't want to risk attracting any attention from others this close to a populated area. She'd once been followed to her hideout as a result of it. Once the thugs were an adequate distance away, she turned to let Rocket know it was time to go. However, as she turned around, she found his face was only inches from hers.

For the awkward moment that the two were this close, Rocket saw the glowing red eyes of her helmet at a close range, and felt her paws burning on his shoulders. He wanted to deflect his emotion, make some sort of quip about how she had him pinned down – throw the embarrassment on her, tease her, maybe flirt. But he couldn't. His heart thumped and banged against the walls of his chest, and he found his mouth dry and his breath stuck.

Sale felt a rush of fear, nervousness and embarrassment as she saw his dark brown eyes peer into hers at an incredibly intimate distance. She watched his pupils look across her mask, and she found herself entranced by the dark black, brown and hazel gradients of his eyes.

 _"They're so...soft. Like the trees of a forest. Wait, what?"_

Near instantly, she stood up and backed away.

"Sorry. Just...gotta keep hidden," She muttered.

"Yeah," Rocket nervously and weakly chuckled.

The rest of the journey was clouded with a nearly unbearable tension.

As they traveled farther from the main populated areas of Knowhere, Sale let up on the secretive paths, as the surrounding areas became more and more deserted. Being a giant celestial head, Knowhere had no real atmosphere, so it was kept habitable by several oxygen generators scattered throughout the colony, and any openings to outer space were sealed off by seamless force-fields. The location Sale was leading Rocket to was near once such force-field, in a seemingly abandoned part of town.

Sale had begun to relax, as she recognized she out of real, tangible danger, and slowed down her pace just a bit. She also slid off her face plate, shoving it into her own backpack. As she did so, she caught Rocket's eyes for a second. Rather than look away in awkwardness - as she's done before - she decided to strike up a conversation. Her eyes were drawn to the shoulder bag Rocket had slung over himself.

"That's uh...nice purse you got there," she quipped.

He smiled.

"It's a knapsack, lady."

"Whatever you say...lady."

"It was a gift."

"It's fine- it...it looks cool!"

"Yeah, yeah. So what's the deal with this place?" Rocket asked, motioning to all the vacant buildings.

"This was one of the first camps the Tivan Group set up when they found this place. All the materials in this area are gone, so they all left. Really no reason for anyone to come here."

"So why don't you live here instead of the main colony?"

"Well uh, my 'line of work' requires me to be pretty close by to the city."

"And would 'line of work' would that be?"

"Have you not figured it out yet?" She challenged.

Before Rocket could fire back, Sale quickly got to the door to a small shack, opening it and motioning her guest to enter first. He reluctantly entered and found himself heavily confused by the inner decor. It seemed to be a normal restaurant, but it was completely empty and covered in dust. Plants seem to overrun onto the tables and chairs, and all the lights seemed to be off or flickering. Before he could question the Imp's choice of venue, she stepped in front of him and proceeded to the defunct ordering area.

She pressed the only clean looking object on the counter - a bright blue button. There was a short beep, but nothing happened. Rocket walked over to her and gave her a confused glare. She offered a look and a gesture that said: "Wait for it."

Within seconds, a mechanical whirring was heard. From the darkness of the restaurant emerged a tall robotic figure. It seemed to be put together from random tech and had the overall appearance of a metal human mannequin. As it came closer, Rocket realized it was wearing a primitive version of Sale's face plate – but with blue, neutral eyes. It approached the counter quickly.

"GREETINGS," it said in a robotic voice similar to Sale's, although a much lower pitch.

"FUCK!" Rocket jumped back, and Sale fought back an outburst of laughter.

"Hey, Andy. I will take 2 orders of The Usual. We will be sitting in the back. Thank you," Sale said, slowly and coherently.

Rocket turned to the robot, who stood still for a few seconds, seemingly processing the request. It didn't take long.

"OKAY. ESTIMATED TIME TEN MINUTES. SEAT YOURSELF," Andy said, before quickly whipping around, and heading into another room, presumably the kitchen.

"This way," Sale chuckled, motioning to another area of the restaurant.

The building itself appeared very small on the outside, but stretched out pretty far on the inside. Rocket watched as Sale took a seat at the only clean table with the only working light above it. He sat down across from her, adjusting to the odd booth's shape.

"So...Andy?" Rocket asked, playfully.

"Just a...weekend project, I guess. I got bored," she said plainly.

"That's-that's it? You got bored? I get bored too, I don't build robot butlers!"

She laughed.

"Why not?"

"Honestly? Because I haven't thought of it."

The two shared a genuine, warm laugh with one another. Sale had made the decision to not outright ask Rocket about his traumatic past – although she desperately wanted to know - and chose instead to ease into the topic with moderate small talk.

"Well I thought he was pretty cool."

"He is! And..I can kinda relate, actually." He began, "I do have a knack for that kinda stuff too."

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Well I mean, not to brag..." He said, stretching his arms behind his head in a overacted show of masculinity, "...but I did build a weapon that could expel hadron particles, effectively being capable of blowing up medium to large size lunar bodies, all from some scrap."

"Not bad."

"Not bad?!" Rocket exclaimed, smiling. "You're not easily impressed, are ya?"

"Were you trying to impress me?" She teased.

"Ouch. My tragic psyche. It's in fucking shambles. Hey, did I mention I held a fucking Infinity Stone?"

Sale burst into laughter. As she tried to regain her composure, Rocket simply sat there confused and a little insulted.

"And there it is! As soon as I read about that, I was wondering how long it'd take you to bring it up and brag about it! You did not disappoint."

"Oh, C'mon! If there's anything worth bragging about, it's that!"

"That what you tell all those heart-eyed bimbos you pick up at dive bars?"

"Actually, yeah! Works like a fuckin' charm! I'd tell 'em some shit like, the power's still within me, and surges ever so often. Drives 'em wild." He said with a wicked grin.

"Gross," Sale chuckled. "Wait, does it?"

"Wanna find out?"

"Fuck you."

"Poor choice of words."

"Ya know, most heroes don't fuckin' abuse their status like that- there's this thing called honor..."

"Yeah, I'm kinda growing sick of that shit."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"It's just..."

Rocket sighed.

"Boring."

An awkward silence fell over the two. Sale fiddled with her claws as she pondered how to ask this next question.

So she just went for it.

"We...kinda have a lot in common, Rocket."

"Y-yeah, I'd say that."

"Do...do you think that isn't a coincidence?"

"What?"

"That we're both skilled engineers. You think our genetic augmentations have something to do with it?"

"Could be. Makes sense," Rocket said plainly.

"Why would someone genetically engineer animals like us to be skilled technicians? Who would-"

"Does it really matter though?"

"To me, it does. It...it matters a lot."

Rocket grunted.

"You don't remember...anything?" He asked.

"No. There's stuff I've learned over time, though. When I find out about some things...it feels like I've always known about them – like the Halfworld book! Do you know about that?"

"Yeah."

"Supposed to contain the secrets of...where we came from. Written in a language no one could read. There's almost no information about it online..."

"Sale-"

Just then Andy had approached and placed down both of their meals, then quickly stepping away. Rocket looked down at his plate – it seemed to be a fish of some sort – skinned and diced, uncooked. Sale saw him look at his food with uncertainty.

"It's good. Trust me."

"I have trust issues." He stated, stabbing a cube with his fork and placing it in his mouth.

The fish had a pleasant texture and a tangy and crisp taste.

"This is really fucking good," Rocket thought to himself, consuming the fish at a faster rate.

"Eh, you get a pass." He said, mouth filled with the food, "For now."

Sale giggled.

"So I have to ask – what are you doing here? On Knowhere, I mean." She asked.

"I uh...just needed a break," Rocket lied.

"A break huh? Didn't realized heroes got those."

"Don't like that word. I'd say renegade or...something. I don't know."'

"Same here," she said, tossing a bite of fish into her mouth.

"So just tell me. What's your line of work?"

"Would you call 'ruthless vigilante' a line of work?"

"Hell yeah."

She smiled.

"So that what the mask is for...nice touch."

"Not just for intimidation, though. Also got my custom AI in there – lets me know where to be and stuff, shows bounties, things like that."

"Oh, about the hit put out on me – you said the bounty was from an unknown source?"

"Yeah."

Rocket thought for a second.

 _"Pretty sure I could've tracked it with the right equipment..."_

"I've never seen anything like it before." Sale began, "Knowhere, being the lawless land that it is, pretty much uses the bounty system as a means of getting rid of those that are undesired. Highest bounty usually dead within the hour."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After this, the two fell into period of silence, both raccoons quietly chewing their food, and thinking very hard of what to say next as to end the awkward, painful silence.

"Thanks, by the way." Rocket spoke up.

"It's nothing- I got stockpiles of fish from-"

"Oh, the food is great! Thanks! But, I meant...for removing the bounty, and not killing me."

She smiled.

"No problem."

After a pleasant meal, and some friendly small talk, the two wished Andy a pointless goodbye and departed from the isolated restaurant. On the way back, even though he and Sale were no longer talking, Rocket found himself smiling - enjoying her presence. He couldn't explain it if he tried.

Under bridges, through alleys, over rooftops, Sale and Rocket made the uneventful trip back to her lair. That was, until a notification appeared in Sale's HUD. Sale almost descended from a rooftop before she received the message. She motioned for Rocket to stop as she went to check it, as only very crucial messages appeared in that manner.

What she saw sent a deep chill down her spine, and made her blood run cold.

"Rocket, wait." Sale cautioned, "Something's happening..."

"What?" He asked.

"That's...that's impossible."

"Fuck. FUCK!" She exclaimed, paws clenching in fear, confusion and frustration.

"What is it?"

"There's a three billion credit bounty out," she fumed through gritted teeth.

"Woah. Someone must really want that fucker dead." Rocket nervously chuckled, " Hey, who is it? Maybe we could-"

"It's on us," she deadpanned.

"What?" Rocket's naive grin crumbled.

Sale stepped back, and began to pace back and forth in an attempt to collect her thoughts. As she was trying to think of an explanation, she went and checked the bounty's listing source. It had the same signatures as the hit on Rocket the previous night.

"Three billion units? On each of us?" He asked.

And the bounty was targeting them. It was just like Rocket's before – their exact coordinates were attached to the listing. Sale began to panic in a rage, and her voice of reason – the voice that she had ignored all day, was back and screaming at her once more. She threw off her mask. It was being tracked, and there was no time to remove the hack. She began hyperventilating and tightly gripping her head. Everything was going wrong, and her anxiety plummeted her into a pit of darkness again, and she couldn't see the light.

She couldn't.

"Sale, I'm sure this must not come as a surprise to you, being a vigilante and all-"

"They hacked it. They hacked it! Someone hacked my fucking helmet, Rocket!" She yelled.

"What're you-"

"They tracked me! The bounty has a location! Here!"

Rocket's heart sunk, he immediately tried to think of an explanation and a solution at the same time. Sale walked over to the edge of the rooftop. Sure enough, there was a large, angry mob approaching from the east side. She looked into the distance, and to the surrounding area. Then she spotted it – her hidden hangar.

 _"The garage. I guess it's time."_

She didn't wait for Rocket, in fact, he wasn't even in her thoughts anymore. Nothing mattered to her but survival. Fight or flight. Sale jumped off the building and ran the direction of her secret storage facility. Rocket looked over just in time to see her jump.

"Hey!" he yelled, all to no avail. He instantly began following her, chasing after her. She wasn't sneaking around this time, she was in an all out sprint, Rocket following far behind.

"Where are we going!?" He called out to her.

Again, no answer. Rocket felt a chill in his chest.

 _"Is she ignoring me?"_ He wondered, confused and a bit angry.

She then quickly jumped onto a pipe on the side of building, climbing up at an impressive speed. Rocket followed suit. Inexplicably, he found himself more worried about her sudden emotional change than the three billion credit bounty and the huge crowd of thugs after him. By the time he had reached the top of the structure, he caught a glimpse of Sale leaping onto an adjacent roof. Rocket sprinted as fast as he could to get within earshot.

"Sale!" He yelled.

No response, again.

From the corner of Rocket's eye, he could see a large crowd of people swarming the area he and Sale had just been in. And they spotted him. He heard the incoherent yelling of a frenzied group of criminals as they took after two, but he couldn't care less. They were background noise – he was more concerned with Sale's complete emotional shift.

The roof he had followed her onto was that of a large warehouse-type building. The ceiling felt weak and creaky under his paws. Rocket watched as Sale opened a hidden hatch and dropped into the interior of the building. He then rushed over and dropped inside, finding himself standing in a hangar for Sale's ship.

It wasn't a large vessel, but it sure looked threatening before Rocket. He ran over to Sale, who was busy pulling down the cargo door to get inside.

"Sale! Wait up!" He yelled. This time, she stopped and quickly whipped around.

Although she was no longer wearing her mask, her vivid purple eyes appeared to glow and intimidate nonetheless.

"They were following you, and now they're following me!"

"Sale! I'm sorry! I just – I really don't know what's happening-"

"It was a mistake sparing you," she said coldly, pulling out her pistol and aiming it at him.

"What are you doing?! I thought... I thought we were-"

"Friends? Acquaintances? Comrades?! Fuck off, Rocket! I don't need friends to be a happy-I don't need you to be happy-I don't need to be happy!" She growled, stepping closer to him, pressing the pistol against his head.

Rocket dropped to his knees. He had absolutely no idea what she was capable of in her current state.

"H-hey, just listen-" He uttered, his voice low, soft, and wavering.

"I just wanted to know about my past. I thought you had answers."

 _"Her past..."_ Rocket realized.

"But now...I don't-"

"Sale! I know where the Halfworld Book is!" He exclaimed.

Her deadpan gaze faltered for a second.

"Don't you fucking-"

"I'm serious! I found it! It's in my hideout. On the planet Othinn. I...I can take you there."

Sale continued aiming the pistol at his head. Rocket looked up her – Sale's face appeared to show no emotion whatsoever.

However, mentally, she went through a wide range of emotions - hopeful, sad, scared, angry, and conflicted – all the while the mob that had spotted them on the roof was now pounding on the thin walls of the garage.

She pressed the pistol harder against Rocket's forehead, and he watched as her index finger trembled over the trigger.

"I don't know a lot about you, and you don't know a lot about me." Rocket began, voice cracking, "I know how hard it is to trust people. Especially if you've had bad things happen to you."

Gunfire and plasma beams began to rain down on the walls of the hangar, filling the building with loud, terrifying sounds.

"Believe me I know. But...I wouldn't...I wouldn't hurt you. I just met you, and..." He trembled. "I say this as a sincere promise - you can trust me. And I really need to get to know you."

Just then, the mob of criminals and brutes desperate to reap the enormous bounty had broken through the wall of the garage. That, in combination with Rocket's words seemed to break Sale out of the trance that clouded her conflicted mind. As the crashing of the metal echoed loudly throughout the makeshift hangar, Sale felt her mental cowardice collapse. She put her pistol away and placed a paw on Rocket's shoulder. The next words that came out of her mouth didn't originate from her brain, but her heart.

"Get in the ship, pussy," she said, pulling him up off his feet. Sale began pulling on the chain to close the cargo door, when Rocket grabbed a hold of it beside her.

"I'll get this, you go start the engine!" He said, happily – almost as if she didn't just try to kill him, and they were still friends.

Sale had a whirlwind of emotion in response to the delivery of his line. With those simple words, she realized she was forgiven. And that he was willing to help her.

She sprinted to the cockpit, flicking on all the switches, effectively powering the ship on. A low, bass-heavy rumble emitted from the rear of the ship, as the engines flared on and a fierce fire expunged out the back of the propulsion engine. Sale's ship began to take off. She slammed the acceleration handle down, sending them busting through break-away roof of the warehouse. Maneuvering through the many buildings and odd structures in Knowhere was relatively easy due to the small nature of the ship and Sale's piloting expertise. Within minutes, they had passed through the oxygen barriers, left Knowhere, and were in outer space. As an extra precaution, she engaged in a hyperspeed jump that warped her through several hundred lightyears of space, just to be sure they couldn't be followed. With that, Sale let out a long exhale, hit the "idle" button on the ship's main control panel, and stepped off the captain's chair.

Just then Rocket had walked in, looking just as tired and exhausted as she was.

They both stared at each other for a few seconds, before Sale broke the silence.

"I could use a drink right now."

* * *

After their narrow escape, the two were in dire need of a break, so they found their way to the ship's humble kitchen, now at a small table, resting on alloy chairs and drinking alien alcohol. Rocket had paced himself with the drinking this time around, sipping it only occasionally, as the raccoon thought it would be best if he didn't make a fool out of himself in front of this woman.

"I don't know if I've ever been on a ship this small," Rocket said, looking around at Sale's vessel.

"I didn't need anything flashy. I didn't think I'd ever had to use this ship," she stated, taking another gulp from her glass.

"It's pretty cool, I think. Cozy interior," Rocket replied.

Sale had an expression of exhaust and worry written on her face. She swished around the green liquid, staring into it resentfully. Rocket noticed her slightly open her mouth to say something, catch eyes with him, then look down, bringing the cup to her lips once more.

 _"She's hesitant, for some reason..."_ Rocket thought to himself, realizing he'd have to initiate the conversation once more.

"Well, what kind of armaments do ya got on this ship?" He asked, smiling.

"None." She deadpanned, "This ship was designed for stealth."

"What?! Are you kidding me?" Rocket groaned, "What if you encounter an enemy ship?! Or a-"

"I wouldn't encounter anything. This ship has a cloaking device, is virtually invisible to any kind of radar, and is one of the fastest on the market. Designed. For. Stealth." Sale growled, seemingly frustrated with Rocket's attempts at conversation.

An awkward silence drifted past the two before Rocket spoke up again, with only the light sounds of the ship's engines filling the air.

"Hey, I wasn't tryin' to insult your ship or anything," Rocket pointed out, slightly smiling at her. She made no eye contact with him and continued drinking. "Having a stealth ship is pretty fucking cool too. How long have you-"

"Listen." She interrupted, "I know what you're trying to do. I appreciate it, but please...stop." Sale shut her eyes, placing a paw on her forehead in frustration.

Sale opened her eyes and saw that Rocket was a bit hurt by her words, but in a flash looked completely neutral and unaffected. "Okay, I'll just, go and set a course for Othinn," he muttered, setting his drink down and walking out of the kitchen.

Sale felt equal parts relieved and horrible.

 _"He was just trying to make you feel better,"_ the emotional part of her thought.

 _"He is not to be trusted,"_ her logical side retorted, _"He could be leading you to certain death. Do you really believe he was on Knowhere for- what did he say again? A break? He could've gone rogue and got exiled from the Guardians!"_

Sale's emotions retaliated, _"He's been nothing but nice to me."_

Her head's rationale considered, _"Of course he's been nice to you! You're the only female raccoon he's ever seen – he's trying to get on your good side, and before you know it, he's charmed you into fornication!_

She felt a cold chill run down her spine as she realized her logical and emotional trains of thought actually agreed.

 _"Can I trust him?"_

Several minutes passed as Sale continued to drink. She could've consumed the whole bottle and it wouldn't have mattered – alcohol never had any effect on her. It didn't even taste good. She was just drinking it because it gave her something to do. Sale continued to consider the fact that she could have brought a manipulative outlaw onto her ship.

 _"A fucking break...?"_ She realized.

It made no sense. It was an obvious excuse.

A lie.

Heart racing with anger, she stood up from the table and stomped over to the ship's cockpit. Within a few seconds, she had made her way there - finding the raccoon in question fiddling away with the ship's controls. He quickly noticed her presence and turned to face her, smiling.

"Quite the hell of a control setup you got here!" he complimented, "You've got some fuckin' sweet perpetual reaction monitors-"

"Get up," she stated.

Willingly and nonchalantly, Rocket got up from the pilot's seat. Sale was glaring daggers at him.

"Why were you on Knowhere again?" She questioned, arms crossed. Instantly, she saw a glimmer of anxiety in Rocket's eyes, further angering her.

"I uh, needed a break," Rocket said, uncomfortably grinning.

She remained silent.

"All that hero stuff really takes it out of ya," Rocket laughed.

Sale stepped closer to him. Instinctively, Rocket took a slight step backward. She was only about a foot away from him at this point.

"The next words out of your fucking mouth better be the truth," she deadpanned.

Rocket sighed in defeat. He learned not to fuck around with her, and found it best that he had come clean. He stared towards the floor, not daring to make eye contact with the fearsome woman, as he began his speech.

"I quit," Rocket wore an expression of embarrassment and shame on his face. "The Guardians. I...I quit."

 _"He what?"_

Sale kept her intimidating gaze on him, saying nothing.

"That's the truth," Rocket added. "I'm sorry I lied. Really, I am. That was before..."

He sighed.

"I won't lie again, Sale. I'm telling the truth about the Half-World book."

"Are you?" She spat.

The silence stretched, again.

 _"She...doesn't trust me?,"_ Rocket realized. He turned towards the front of the ship, staring off into orange rays of a far away star. She was hesitant to trust him, and he could understand that. He'd lied to her about his intentions, and had been withholding with his knowledge of his past. Rocket began to fear what little of a companionship they had was in jeopardy.

And he really wanted to save it.

Then, an idea came to him. Rocket walked over to where he had set down his shoulder bag, pulling out his pocket-dimension storage vial. After adjusting the settings accordingly, he located the object he wanted. With the simple push of a button, the object materialized before him. A soft clink sounded, and a small, circular strand of metal hit the ground. Rocket walked over and picked it up gingerly in his paws.

"What's that?" Sale asked.

Rocket walked over to Sale and gingerly handed the bracelet to her. She took it, examining it closely. She noticed some letters and numbers engraved onto it.

"Subject 89P13...," she read aloud.

"That's me. That's where I-" He paused, stepping a bit closer to her. "That's where...we...came from."

She looked at him, confused.

It was clear to him that he would need to elaborate further, and recount those memories that he'd tried so hard to forget.

 _"Fuck."_

"I was..." Rocket sighed, leaning on the captain's chair, "I was made in a lab. And so were you. Where the lab is, who the scientists were, why they fuckin' did it...I don't know."

Sale stepped closer to Rocket, who was clearly struggling to get the words out. She was morbidly intrigued.

"I-I'll never know why...why they tore me apart and put me back together like some sort of-f-fucking monster. Why they examined, experimented, and fucked with me. M-my first memories were nothing but pain. Cold metal, blinding lights, a merciless force, and the pain...The agonizing, burning, excruciating, torturous...pain."

Sale felt her heart drop. She instinctively made her way over to him to offer any sign of comfort. Before she could, Rocket turned to her. His eyes were watery, and he was clearly fighting back heavy emotions.

"I'm glad you don't remember, Sale. I wish I didn't." Rocket said, before turning and walking away, back towards the kitchen.

She wanted to follow him, she really did, but she found herself frozen in place. Her emotions had once again gone through a whirlwind – fear of Rocket's true intentions, anger at his lie, sorrow for his past.

 _"So what he came from the same place as you? And so what if that place was fucked?"_ She found herself thinking, _"He could still easily be a threat! This doesn't make him a better person."_

Sale had lived her whole life without the need to question herself. Up till now, there was only one concept she held true and stood by - "Don't be weak."

 _"But, is caring weak?"_

She didn't know. And a big part of her told her not to risk it. But a small part of her wanted to take the risk. The part of her – the small part – had been repressed her entire life, and was now suddenly manifesting itself in a terrifyingly new way. Holding the metal bracelet in her hands, she stared at the engraved lettering once more. Turning the armband around to see if there was anything else, she made a discovery. There were hieroglyphs.

Hieroglyphs she had seen before in her research. Hieroglyphs she had remembered. The only thing she had remembered.

Heart racing, she ran into the kitchen. There, she found Rocket had consumed his entire glass of alien alcohol and was resting his head in his arms. She pulled her chair from the opposite end of the table and slid it around and right up next to him. She sat down, finding the proximity...comfortable, but not thinking too much of it at that current moment. Rocket stirred, and turned up to her.

"What-" He grumbled.

"These symbols. Have you seen these?" She interrupted, pointing to the small hieroglyphs on the back of the bracelet.

Rocket saw the ones she was pointing to.

"Yeah," He grunted, sniffling afterward.

"Do you know what they mean?" she asked, her violet eyes peering into his.

"Umm...only some of 'em. Why?"

Sale's felt like an electric current had shot through her veins as Rocket had said this. Almost immediately she sat up, startling him in the process. She rummaged through some nearby drawers looking for a writing utensil, and something to write on. Within a few minutes, she returned to the table with an old pen and a scrap of paper, handing them to Rocket.

Rocket gave her a confused look.

"I need you to write down the hieroglyphs that you can read and understand, then translate them," she instructed, gazing into his eyes with conviction.

The raccoon didn't dare to ask why, and started doing as she asked. The bracelet had been the only reminder of his past life, and he'd been tempted multiple times to discard of the object, but one thing had always kept him from doing so – the hieroglyphs. For some indescribable reason, he found himself able to recognize and translate some of them into English.

There were eight symbols on the bracelet. Rocket examined them closely. The first one – a swirled circle. He immediately recognized this as the equivalent of the English letter 'R'. He continued with three of the other hieroglyphs, translating four of the eight symbols. Sale's smile grew as she watched him work, her heart swelling with excitement and hope. Rocket had finished writing the letters.

"K...Y...T...E...," He said. "I was only able to get like, every other letter, though. Why did you-"

Sale interrupted him by grabbing the pen and paper from his paws. She went to work writing down the hieroglyphs she could identify.

She then realized that she could translate every symbol that Rocket couldn't.

"KEYSTONE," Rocket read aloud.

"That's...that's a quadrant isn't it?"

"Yes...," She answered, voice trembling. "We have a location now. D-did you know about this?"

"No. I could never remember a specific place out there," he said, backing away slightly.

"Rocket," She began, placing a paw on his shoulder, "We could find it. We could find the lab. We could find answers..."

He shivered slightly at her touch, her paw feeling incredibly warm on his shoulder. He found that she was looking at him with an unfamiliar expression – excitement and genuine joy. He saw something in her big, bright violet eyes that he never saw before. It was as if he was under some sort of spell, finding his heart beat at a much faster rate, and his mood mirror hers almost automatically.

All her life, Sale had done a great amount of research on anything that could help her discover her past. She never could find anything substantial – save for an old map which was said to have originated from Halfworld. Though somewhat doubtful, She found herself having a strange intuition that this map was indeed genuine, mainly because of some of the symbols that appeared on it. Through some bizarre phenomenon, the raccoon was able to distinctly comprehend and understand some select hieroglyphs. However, she could never make heads or tails of any full sentences, mainly due to her not being able to translate the full Halfworld Alphabet. She'd spent the past few months trying and failing, all to no avail. Sale soon realized her efforts were hopeless, and abandoned the belief that she may, one day, know all about her past. As painful as it was, she had to choose to forget.

That was, until today. Where in that one moment, when Rocket had the knowledge she didn't...when they completed the task together, that Sale realized something – He was the key to her past.

And he truly wanted to help her, going so far as to recount traumatic memories to satiate her curiosity. She might've always known, but she had no doubts about it now. Rocket was genuine, kind-hearted, and trustworthy.

It must have been the overwhelming happiness, the exhaustion, sleepiness, the newfound comfort of having a trustworthy ally, or all of those feelings put together, that pushed Sale to once again act from her heart.

With one paw already on his shoulder, she used her free hand to grab his opposite shoulder. With a firm grip on him, she pulled Rocket into her grasp, closing the already small distance between the two.

She clearly heard Rocket slightly exhale in shock.

 _"This is fine,"_ Sale thought. _"It's just a hug. Just a friendly, platonic, celebratory hug. Nothing romantic. Just, enjoying his warmth – it's cold in here. And his uh...broad, sturdy chest. That too. It's really nice. He smells earthy and musky and...fuck, this doesn't feel very platonic."_

Rocket himself was currently very flustered, his speeding heartbeat thumping in his ears. He had never dared to show affection to anyone – not until only recently (and very platonically), with the Guardians. However, Rocket had felt something different, something new, upon meeting Sale. It was indescribable to him. It wasn't just lust, and that terrified him. This whole situation had unfolded so suddenly, that Rocket hadn't had a moment to himself to fully comprehend and contemplate his true feelings – and now he was being hugged by her.

 _"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."_ Rocket panicked, _"Her head is on my shoulder and I could feel the side of her face on my face and her fur is so much softer than anything I've ever felt and I could feel her tits against my chest and her arms are so tender yet strong and she smells so fucking sugary sweet and I'VE BEEN RUNNING ALL DAY I PROBABLY SMELL LIKE SHIT-"_

Rocket aggressively and hastily pushed her away upon this realization. He stood up from his chair – knocking it over with a loud clash – nearly stumbling and falling down in the process. Sale looked upon him with utter bewilderment.

 _"She looks so cute when she's confused."_

"Where's the uh, bathroom?" Rocket stammered, turning pale. "It's just...I uh...D-do you have a bathroom here? Like, with a shower?"

Sale opened her mouth to speak, but he continued before she could begin.

"It's just because I've been runnin' around all day, and-"

"Rocket," she said, standing up from her chair as well.

"I fell in mud like, twice yesterday, I know for a fuckin' FACT I smell like garbage!"

"Rocket, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"It's not fine! Like, you probably like, got some of my stank on you now..."

Sale laughed heartily, walking past him to the ship's cockpit.

"Bathroom's the last room down the hall. Pick any room to sleep in, and see ya in the morning, Rocket," she said, smiling. Rocket groaned and left the kitchen as Sale headed for the front of the ship.

Sale made her way over to the pilot's chair, settling into the chair with a relieved exhale.

Within a few minutes she felt a smile spread over her face.

 _"He looks so cute when he's flustered."_


	3. Go All The Way

**Rocket and The Imp**

 **[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]**

 **Chapter Three – Go All The Way**

* * *

Somewhere in space, a few lightyears outside of Knowhere, a spacecraft waited. It was the kind of craft capable of containing an army, the type of ship that could both start and end wars, and was certainly not the type of ship one would want on their tail. And on the side, spelled out in red paint, was its name.

Behemoth.

But for having so many crew members, the ship was horrifically quiet. This was, of course, due to the captain's orders. The captain of the Behemoth had a naturally heightened sense of hearing, and constantly stressed to all of his subordinates that absolute silence was mandatory. His long, dark, ears twitched as he stared at the ship's main screen with his full and undivided attention. It was displaying a radar, tracking a certain raccoon and his female counterpart. They've since gone off the grid.

He felt a presence next to him. He actually heard him scamper up to him, too. It was his assistant, a nameless rabbit of many. The nervous hare quietly knelt before him, requesting permission from the captain to speak.

"What?" The captain uttered.

"W-well, Captain O'Hare, we did as you asked..."

"Yes?

"And...it worked. They've been chased off Knowhere."

The assistant quietly cleared his throat.

"But..."

"BUT WHAT?!" The captain snapped.

"They're both alive, and we have reason to believe they could be working together."

He growled in frustration.

"S-should we proceed with the attack?" The assistant asked.

"No. We must wait until they're separated."

"But...C-captain O'Hare, that could take-"

"We've waited before, we could wait some MORE!"

The assistant grew silent, bowing his head in shame. After a few seconds, he spoke up in a hushed, trembling voice.

"I just don't understand why-"

O'Hare grabbed the bothersome rabbit by the throat, lifting him up off the ground to meet him at eye level. The poor rabbit was scratching and kicking, but O'Hare's grip only grew stronger. Slowly and menacingly, he leaned forward into the rabbit, letting the pest stare into his blinding red eyes.

"You know..." He growled, bringing a finger to the terrified rabbit's neck, pushing up his head to meet his gaze. "It is imperative to the survival of the entire universe that I keep my employer happy. To keep my employer happy, we must find and kill these two targets. As you could recall, our past attempts have all resulted in failures. And now that they're together, they're even more of a force to be reckoned with. We must wait for them to separate. An ambush is our best chance, do you understand?"

The choking rabbit tried to nod his head.

Blackjack O'Hare released his grip on the assistant, his armored body hitting the floor with a loud clash of metal. This echoed throughout the ship, and many workers stopped to look up at the commotion. Blackjack rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair – it was obvious that he'd need to address this.

"Continue with the tracking, rabbits."

He sat back down in his chair and faced the screen once more. As he stared at the blank grid, his corrupted mind couldn't help but just count the seconds down until his inevitable demise. He was frustrated with his mistakes and failures. He was growing impatient, excited, and thirsty for the blood of the raccoons.

 _"No matter, no matter, no matter. The plan stands before us, ready."_ He thought to himself, a smirk spreading across his face.

* * *

Within the past twenty-four hours, Sale had seen many different sides of Rocket. Initially, she thought he was an asshole. He was defensive, irritable, annoying, and he scared her in an odd way. He threatened everything she thought she knew, dropping in and changing her whole world. What gave him the right to just show up and turn her life upside down like that? Of course, she soon realized her anger and distaste for him was misplaced. As the two talked and continued to be in each other's presence, she started to find him quite tolerable – pleasant, even.

They had lunch together. Then he started making her laugh, and she grew worried again. She liked him.

The more she thought about it, the scarier it got. And if the whirlwind of emotion concerning the handsome raccoon wasn't enough, Sale realized that her helmet had been hacked, and that Rocket was dangerous. There was a hit out on both of them. She had to leave Knowhere – her home for as long as she could remember – because of him. He'd gotten her in danger, and to make it worse, he was entertaining, funny, and...very attractive. She desperately needed to be rid of his presence.

Sale stepped into her ship when she heard him again. He'd followed her into the hangar. Why was he making this so hard for her? Sale broke down, planted her pistol on his head, and threatened him. But he wouldn't go. He whimpered, and pleaded, breaking her heart. She cursed everything, and let him in.

After the hyperspeed jump, Sale drowned her anxiety with some mediocre drinks. Rocket kept trying to make conversation, but she wasn't having any of it. Sale felt comfortable in letting him think that he did something wrong, even if he didn't. Rocket had really fucked with Sale, and even if he didn't mean it, she once again grew hateful of him for it. The realization of his lie back on Knowhere further fueled her anger.

She went and confronted him about it, but he went and did it again. He came clean, told the truth, and revealed a deep, dark piece of his heart to her. Rocket told her of his past, nearly breaking into tears. He was genuine and honest, that much she could see. But she mentally questioned why he'd do such a thing for her, and grew terrified at the answer.

Rocket cared about her.

As Sale stared at his metal bracelet and the hieroglyphs, a revelation cleared her mind. Excitement and intrigue replaced her fear, and she sprinted to solve the cryptic Halfworld puzzle. After they decoded that one simple word and gained a location, their success filled her with an extraordinary hope. She had thought that Rocket's sudden presence in her life had ruined things, changed them for the worse. But time and time again, he challenged that prospect. Sale now knew that Rocket wasn't a threat. In fact, he was going to save her.

So that's why she hugged him, and after their embrace and Rocket's nervous bumbling, she excused herself from his presence quickly. She had no idea how much longer she could keep her composure, because she realized she cared about him too.

 _"Fuck."_

* * *

Slowly and painfully sitting up, the raccoon stirred from his long and arduous slumber. He scooted to the edge of his cot, staring at the plain metal ground and trying to grasp his bearings – to distinct reality from dreams again. His mind grew clear, and he came to terms with the events that had transpired in the past two days.

He'd quit the Guardians. _"Fuck them. They...if they wanted me back they would've said something. Fuck them."_

There was some unknown entity out there who wanted him dead. _"Nothing new there."_

He met another raccoon. _"And she's hot as fuck."_

With a yawn, he stood up, grabbed his black tank top that had been carelessly tossed on the floor, and ungracefully pulled it over his head. He stretched his legs and stepped out of the room, down the narrow hallway and into the ship's quaint kitchen. Immediately he'd recognized the scent of cooking and soon saw Sale fiddling with some alien ingredients and an electric stove. Rocket soon noticed Sale was sporting different clothes today – a dark gray jumpsuit of sorts. A very tight jumpsuit. Rocket found himself at a loss for words, admiring the view of Sale's backside and how the snug cloth material hugged her curves in all the right places. Her striped fluffy tail swished around idly, and he cursed it whenever it obstructed his view of her round, voluptuous-

"Fuck."

"Hmm?" Sale said, turning to see a huffing, sweaty Rocket.

He then realized he'd accidentally said that out loud.

"What? Huh? I didn't say anythin'," he stammered.

"Really? I thought I-"

"So ya makin' some breakfast?" Rocket interrupted, quickly having a seat at the small table.

He was incredibly focused on keeping eye contact with the woman before him, trying his hardest not to let his eyes travel over her again. An awkward silence lingered for a while before a confused Sale turned back around, continuing to grill some sort of alien meat. Rocket couldn't help but not look again.

 _"Keep it together you fucking perverted piece of shit," He cursed to himself, doing his best to control his breaths and suppress a rising stiffness below his belt, "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-"_

"Here," Sale huffed, aggressively sliding a plate in front of Rocket. "It's some sort of meat I found, and it doesn't taste very good. Enjoy, you fucking perv."

"Perv? What're-"

"You were staring. I can feel your fuckin' eyes on me. It's not a good feeling."

"I wasn't staring!" He barked.

Sale ignored him and sat down across the table, chewing a bite of the crisp gray meat and glaring at Rocket with those murderous violet eyes.

He sighed, and began to get frustrated.

"All right, I was. Sorry! B-but what do you expect?! You're struttin' around in goddamn skin-tight yoga pants-" Rocket cut himself off.

 _"Did I really fucking say that?"_

Another prolonged silence. Sale initially looked offended, but her glare and frown eventually turned to a lighthearted smirk. Rocket grew uncomfortable as her eyes changed from angry and piercing to... sensual and inviting? She comically batted her thick eyelashes, flashing her bedroom eyes. The warmness below his belt grew again. Rocket quickly scooted in closer to the table, to hide it. Sale began to chew the meat in a much more slower fashion, being sure to lather her fork in saliva, all the while maintaining eye contact with Rocket. He felt his heart begin to race, and a bead of sweat run down the side of his head.

Soon he heard the light, soft, melodic laugh of Sale.

Looking at her, his discomfort melted away. Watching her smile and laugh gave Rocket an internal warmness he'd never felt before. Soon he began to giggle as well, not fully knowing why. After a few minutes of this lightheartedness, silence enveloped them both once more.

 _"She's fucking doing this on purpose. She likes seeing me squirm,"_ Rocket thought.

He looked down at his plate – realizing he had ignored his meal. Grabbing the small slab of cooked meat, he pulled apart a small chunk, bringing to his mouth. He then thought of something to say, and a dastardly smirk grew on his face.

"And as if you needed to look any hotter."

Rocket gambled, trying to get under her skin just as she did him. However, he'd regretted the words almost immediately after they escaped his lips. Not only did she appear to grow slightly uncomfortable, but so did he. And the awkward silence was unbearable.

A slight blush tinted her cheeks.

 _"Goddamn it, Rocket you fucking dumbass..."_ Sale thought.

"Thanks. Not interested, though," She lied.

Rocket nearly choked on a bit of the cooked meat, bursting into a violent cough. He looked up to meet her eyes, noticing she appeared very neutral and careless.

"Yeah me either. Either? Neither. Me neither."

Sale smiled slightly. Rocket looked up at her, finding her eyes had resumed that previous look – the one that sent his heart rate through the roof and grabbed him by the crotch. He couldn't take that any longer. He quickly stood up, his chair making a loud noise as he scooted back. Rocket stood at an awkward angle and began to quickly walk out the kitchen.

"I'm just gonna check on our navigation and trajectory and shit," Rocket mumbled, quickly escaping from the thick cloud of sexual tension that had been created within the past few minutes.

The panicked raccoon scampered off to the front of the ship, where the captain's chair and control bay was. Sale had burst into light laughter as soon as he left.

 _"So much fun."_

Soon after, She had met up with Rocket, and the two sitting in silence as they watched the stars fly past the ship's main windshield. Within a very short hour, they had finally reached the planet of their interest – Othinn. As soon as the tan, desert planet appeared within view, Rocket stood up and began to enter specific coordinates to the ship's navigational GPS. This had alerted Sale, who had been drifting off into her own mind, consumed by a wave of irrational, romantic thoughts.

"What're you doing?" Sale inquired.

"Landing coordinates," Rocket answered, finishing the input and turning to face her, "Should let you know though, it's quite a ways off from the hideout. Oh, and the planet's surface temperature rarely drops below a hundred degrees."

It wasn't exactly good news, but Rocket smiled as he told it.

"Are you serious?" Sale asked, irritated.

"Yup. It's a desert planet, did I not mention that?"

She gritted her teeth.

"Not a problem."

"I mean you say that but, have you ever been in extreme temperatures in that leather catsuit of yours?" He said, motioning to Sale's attire.

She looked down at it.

"It's not leather," She stated.

"That was a joke."

The two stared at each other in silence.

"It's-...never mind," Rocket angrily huffed, turning his attention back to the front of the ship and staring out into the field of space – mentally chastising himself for the missed joke. However, such thoughts were interrupted as Sale spoke up again.

"God, you're so easy to fuck with!" He heard Sale chuckle behind him, soon transitioning into full-blown laughter. Time seemed to slow as he watched her.

 _"Her laugh is so cute. And she's so fucking beautiful. God-she, she really is..."_

He continued to stare.

 _"Her happiness is contagious, she's like...magic."_

Rocket was pulled from his mental debate as the ship violently jolted, and vibrated heavily, before eventually settling. He looked up to see that the ship was now surrounded by red-tinted sand dunes as far as the eye can see, and had landed on a colossal, rusty sheet of metal. He'd been lost in his head for so long that seemingly, a matter of seconds, they had already made it to the planet of Othinn and had now landed.

He turned to look at Sale, who had just stepped away from the controls and began to walk into the ship's extensive hallway. Rocket slowly stepped up from the co-pilot's chair and began to walk over to her. By the time he had reached the corridor, she had already opened a door down the hall to a room unknown to him. He spotted Sale through the half open door, as she began to unzip her jumpsuit, surely to change into something more fitting for the extreme temperatures ahead. Rocket found time had slowed down as he watched her undress — that seconds had turned to hours as more and more of Sale's chestnut fur was revealed.

 _"Fuck. This is wrong. This is so wrong. Her bra is fucking red I'm going to die-"_

Rocket quickly and quietly walked backwards a few steps, ending up back in the cockpit. He then proceeded to continue forward, making his footsteps loud and exaggerated. By the time he'd reached the hallway, Sale had already changed. Her dark gray jumpsuit had now been traded for a black pants and a plain white tanktop – both of which heavily complimented the bright brown tones of her fur. Sale had begun to walk towards Rocket, throwing a large and heavy backpack over her shoulder. Rocket forgot why he'd followed her into the hallway. He forgot what he wanted to say. Before he had any time to remember, Sale stopped and stood in front of him. He was blocking the way, and she crossed her arms and gave him an inquisitive look.

 _"Quick, just fucking say something, don't just stand there,"_ Rocket contemplated. _"Make conversation! A-Ask her what's in the bag! Yeah, say that."_

Rocket cleared his throat and spoke.

"You still look really hot."

He realized something was wrong when her eyes had seemed to drift away from his, pupils increasing in size as she looked away, obviously caught off guard by his compliment. As she moved her paw up to brush some stray furs past her ear and slowly bring her gaze up. She was blushing. Rocket felt his heart skip a beat.

"Uhm, thanks."

Before another awkward silence could ensue, Rocket stepped aside, motioning Sale to pass him through the hallway. Sale quickly did so. And though the backpack was large, Rocket's view of Sale's backside was unobstructed.

 _"Fffuck..."_

Sale had been having an emotional dispute all day, and Rocket's latest comment had just added more fuel to the fire. "What's his endgame here? He can't be genuine with shit like that, right? Right. He was a goddamn Guardian of the Galaxy! Probably slept with a new girl every other day. Fucker just wants to try raccoon now." As her mental dialogue continued, Sale's thoughts began to spiral past the point of general suspicion, to full-blown anger towards Rocket.

She pushed a button to the airlock, and the door opened, leading into a smaller room. Sale stepped inside, and Rocket followed close behind. The room was incredibly small due to the sleek design of the ship. Rocket and Sale stood about a foot apart from one another, as the depressurization took place and the other end of the room opened up.

Immediately, the heat was noticeable. Sale was quick to jump out, rather burning in the sun than being in close contact with Rocket. The metal that the landing pad was composed of was hot enough to give them third degree burns, but they'd taken precaution and leaped onto the sand nearby. The sand itself was warm and somewhat pleasant underneath Sale's paws. She then heard a thud and a grunt, turning to see Rocket struggle to get up. He brushed sand from his black tanktop and turned to smile a toothy grin at her.

Despite her better judgment, Sale found that very charming. Rocket came up to stand by her, looking in all directions as he did so. Then the realization hit her.

"So which way now?" She asked.

"I could type the coordinates into your PDA watch to lead the way." Rocket replied, placing his hands on his hips. Sale pulled up her wrist-mounted computer and opened up the GPS program. She brought up the 'Input Location' dialogue box as Rocket approached her even closer, invading her circle of comfort. Instantly she flinched and stepped back, shooting him a cold, questioning glare.

"Calm down, I was just gunna put them in-"

"Just tell me."

"It'll be faster if I do it."

Sale thought about it for a second, and decided she honestly didn't care enough to argue about it any further. She held up her wrist to him as he moved over and began to type in the coordinates. The planet had been sweltering hot, but the feeling of Rocket's paws brushing against her wrist felt absolutely burning in comparison.

Once finished, he stepped back, smiling at her again with that dumb, stupid, attractive smile. Sale quickly averted her gaze to her watch, which now displayed directions in the form of a large blue arrow pointing north.

The two began their journey to Rocket's abandoned hideout, walking up and over multiple sand dunes and enduring the harsh heat of the Othinn desert. Rocket ran his tongue against the roof of his mouth, finding himself incredibly parched. Sale took notice, pulling out a water container from her bag and shoving it into his chest. He looked at her for a few seconds before taking it from her. Her face displayed boredom, and coldness. As always.

Rocket made sure to only sip, and not gulp the liquid. The last thing he'd want would to be to waste it and further piss Sale off. Once quenched, he handed it back to her.

"Thanks," He uttered.

"Mmhmm." She nodded.

The two continued their arduous trek in silence. After about half an hour had passed, Sale spoke up.

"Why the fuck," she said in-between long, heavy breaths, "Did you pick this planet for a hideout?"

Rocket took a moment to form a response.

"I was wounded pretty bad, my ship was beat up. This planet wasn't even on the most updated maps at the tine, so I took refuge here. I was uh...on the run. Anyway, there was this big warehouse I found. It was abandoned, empty, and perfect for safekeeping shit under the radar of douche bags."

Sale seemed to be satisfied with that answer, as she didn't question him further. The two walked for a bit before a large, rusted structure came into view. It was half buried in sand and falling apart, looking like the remains of some extinct civilization. Sale gradually increased her speed, rushing to take shelter within the confines of the hideout.

"Also..." Rocket added, "Everyone hates deserts. Perfect place to hide-"

"Not species that were adapted for this climate...They don't hate deserts."

Rocket grew silent.

"Oh, yeah." He muttered, "I guess you're right."

Sale chuckled softly. It was a laugh at his expense again, but Rocket felt a bit more pleasant this time around, once again finding enjoyment in improving her mood. It was only a matter of minutes before the two had reached the door of the tall, rusty structure.

Rocket stepped in front of Sale and gripped the large wheel on the front door. It was much like the wheel found on a large, old safe. As he pulled on it, fighting against the rust and the weight of the metal, Sale found herself infatuated with the sight before her. Rocket's thick biceps bulged out in an impressive display, and his tanktop, now drenched in sweat, was skin-tight.

She found it incredibly...provocative.

 _"Fuck…"_ She thought.

Before she could even mentally scold herself for the thoughts, Rocket had opened the door with a loud, metal creek, and once more turning to Sale with that handsome, stupid, dumb smile.

He motioned for her to enter first.

Sale was an incredibly smart raccoon, and yet she hadn't figured out the real reason why Rocket had always let her walk in front of him.

 _"Fuck..."_ He thought.

With a goofy smile, he shut the door behind her and flicked on a nearby switch. Inexplicably, several flickering fluorescent lights had powered on. However, most of the hideout was lit by several holes in the ceiling, the strong rays of the sun coming down and illuminating dust particles as they floated on the updraft in the air.

Rocket's hideout was an abandoned warehouse. It was filled with boxes and crates, and contained piles of what appeared to be a wide array of junk from the galaxy's worst garage sale. While the main room was big and cavernous, there was a small office to the far right, which Rocket made a beeline to. Sale began to follow, their collective footsteps echoing out throughout the entire building.

Once there, Rocket pushed aside the creaky metal door and pulled a chain that hung from the ceiling, turning on a light bulb and illuminating the room. Sale entered to find a fully-furnished, small living space - much like a dorm room or a small apartment. There was a bed, a desk, a dining area that consisted of a small table and one chair, a door that seemed to lead into a bathroom, and a messy pile of technology and guns.

"Welcome home, Rocket," he mumbled to himself, just barely audible to Sale.

The room was small, musty, dusty and warm. Sale took a seat on the bed as Rocket continued to marvel and reminisce on his old belongings. She looked around the room, finding that it offered a lot of insight to more of Rocket's personality. From she was seeing, she felt it comfortable to assume that the two must have had a lot of similarities. Posters of famous space outlaws adorned the wall, held in place by several knifes and darts. She recognized all of them. There was a shelf that seemed to be completely devoted to displaying a wide array of guns and such. She desperately wanted to see how the large, bazooka-type gun fired. And there was pretty much garbage just all over the place. Sale wasn't really a clean freak either.

She felt the bed jostle as Rocket sat down next to her. Sale turned to notice that he was as far away as he could be from her, without falling off mattress. He was staring straight ahead, looking somewhat content. She followed his line of sight to discover a mirror on the opposite wall, a large, cracked, rectangular mirror that displayed two sweaty raccoons staring back at it, sitting an almost humorously abnormal distance from each other. The two caught eyes in their reflection, but Rocket didn't look away, beginning to lightly smile. Sale felt a warm sense of strange happiness upon seeing this.

 _"Scoot closer idiot,"_ Sale mused. The thought seemed to come from that loud, annoying, perverted part of her brain that had been so vocal today – a part of her she'd never even knew existed.

Rocket spoke up before she could freak out again.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, standing up from the bed, "It's in my safe!"

"A safe? Isn't this whole building supposed to be like a safe?"

"My safe's safe keeps it safer. I keep only the really important stuff in there!"

"Uh huh...," She mused with a grin.

Rocket located the safe in the corner of the room, on a small table, underneath a pile of an assortment of tools and wires. He picked up the heavy safe with one arm, and with the other, shoved everything off the table with a loud, resounding clatter that echoed throughout the building.

He cringed in response to the brash sound, and turned to look at Sale in embarrassment.

"Was that really necessary?" She deadpanned.

He said nothing, instead slamming the safe down onto the table, pulling up a chair. Rocket heard Sale laugh, and once again felt that same feeling of warmness and joy. By now, it shouldn't have been that novel of a thing, but it was. He then heard the springs of the mattress contract, and light footsteps as she approached him. He looked around the room for a chair for her, but there was none. Rocket quickly stood up and offered his chair to her, motioning for her to sit down.

Sale stared at him with confusion. Rocket felt himself crumble once again, overthinking this small action and becoming unsure of himself once again. Finally, Sale simply rolled her eyes and sat down. He tried to think of some witty repartee, but couldn't. Instead, he went to the keypad on the Safe, typing in his most commonly used code.

The screen lit up as Rocket typed in 1-2-3-4, with a beep accompanying his press of every button. Once finished, he hit 'Enter', only to have the screen light up red for a second with a displeasing short buzz.

"Wait, what?" He grumbled.

"One, two, three, four, are you kidding me?"

"Hang on, I got it!"

Rocket typed in 4-3-2-1.

The safe lit red and buzzed.

"Shit!" Rocket exclaimed in frustration, stopping to think for a few minutes. With each passing second, Sale grew more concerned, beginning to grow angry as well.

 _"Wait, has this fucking idiot really forgotten the passcode?"_ She wondered.

"Let's just fucking break it open." Sale suggested.

"Can't," Rocket said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "It's uh, indestructible."

"What?" She growled.

"Well you see it's made of this rare alloy I got-"

"You're joking, right?"

"No. If...I can't remember it...then..."

There was a volatile silence.

"Sorry, It's just been so long-..."

"FUCK!" Sale exclaimed.

She lifted the safe from the table and began viciously spamming random numbers into the keypad. Rocket looked at her in genuine concern, her beautiful light brown fur being illuminated with red every few seconds. Beeps and buzzes seemingly grew louder with every attempt. Several minutes of this went by with Rocket slowly working up the nerve to approach her. He moved his hand up to place it on her shoulder, albeit very slowly and cautiously. However, Sale flinched when he'd made contact, and she threw the safe down onto the table with a loud crash.

She slumped down into the chair and buried her head into her arms.

Rocket felt terrible. His past had never been a huge concern of his, but that's only because he knew what he needed to know. Sale knew nothing. He saw how much she cared, and he understood that he was her only hope for peace was to get the answers she sought after her whole life.

And he let her down.

Rocket crouched down beside her.

"H-hey," he started.

Sale quickly shot up, staring at him with those murderous, alluring, beautiful purple orbs. She was pissed beyond belief and Rocket was scared beyond belief, but at the same time, he felt his heart flutter again upon meeting her eyes.

"Some dude once told me that hope is a fucking poison," She muttered, "I think I get what he meant by that now."

Rocket gently placed his paw on her shoulder. This time she didn't flinch.

 _"Her fucking fur is like, silky soft! Is she even a raccoon? Or...shit, should my fur be this soft? I should shower more-"_

Sale's back began to straighten, as she sat up and looked ahead with revelation in her eyes. Slowly, she turned to Rocket.

His worried gaze was one she'd seen all too often.

 _"He cares an awful lot about me, it seems. Fucker looks like he's ready to cry. Does he really-...? Never mind, not important right now."_

Sale smiled and pulled the safe to her. Confidently, she entered a new code.

"Eight, Nine, One, Three." She said aloud.

The safe's screen lit up green, and a soft click was heard. Sale pulled the safe's door open. The Half-World Book was in there. It was the only thing in there. She retrieved it and placed it on an empty part of the table.

"So this is the only thing that's important to you?" Sale asked.

"How did- what?"

"Huh?"

"The...code."

"It's you."

"I-, what?"

"89P13."

"You remembered that?" he said, voice cracking nervously and a genuine smile once again spreading across his face. He was taken aback by this.

 _"Sure, she could've just had really good memory – or perhaps it could be...she cares?"_ Even the possibility of that took Rocket off guard.

Sale looked at him, pondering his behavior. _"Okay so maybe he's not a deceiving bastard like I thought he was. Actually, now he's pretty much a nervous wreck – and pretty fun to fuck with."_ Sale considered. _"Fun? Now that's a word I don't use too often. Stalking and killing murderers – that's fun. Stealth and assassinations – that's fun. Spending time with another person?"_

Her breath hitched in her throat.

 _"Fuck, maybe I'm the one that's gone soft."_

"Dude, don't be a pussy," She said with a smile. "We got a lot of work to do."

* * *

Papers, broken pencils and spilled glasses were cluttered around the two as they worked together to translate the Halfworld Book. Without a second chair, the decision was made that they'd take the floor. Lying on their stomachs, Rocket and Sale both took turns writing down the deciphered symbols and characters onto new pieces of paper. Over the next several hours, the two continued alternating and translating the text efficiently, like a well-oiled machine.

The close proximity didn't bother Sale as much as it should have. As a matter of fact, she found herself enjoying being this close to Rocket. It was a foreign, warm, exciting feeling. While her mind was mostly preoccupied on the work of translating the book, she did have brief moments where some other things came to mind.

For instance, Sale realized soon after they'd begun working, that Rocket had a certain musky fragrance to him. It was an earthy, rich, smooth and sharp scent unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. Against every one of her preconceived notions about the raccoon, she found herself thoroughly and carnally enticed by the aroma.

Another moment of significance occurred a bit later in the day. Rocket and Sale were working as usual, when Rocket had briefly gone silent. Turning to look at him, she noticed he was yawning, and moving into a different position. At the time, it wasn't that notable of an event, but Sale found that the sight before her – Rocket leaning his head on his arm, gently gazing at her with those tired, humble brown eyes, and smirking smoothly – seemed to emotionally resonate with her. As the day went on, the mental snapshot flickered in her mind every so often. The image of Rocket, his mind clearly unencumbered by anything but her, staring in admiration. It was another sign that he may be genuine in his intentions, and not the deceiving rat that she made him out to be. She thought alot about the look in his eyes, and the possible emotions displayed across the brown orbs.

 _"Fondness, comfort, attraction...love?"_

Sale had buried the romantic part of her heart for decades, stashed it away and forgot it existed. But it was here now. Initially a whisper, now a yell, a voice inside her screamed to indulge herself for once and to be happy. To let Rocket in. But her voice of reason reminded her of the fragility and risks of the heart, and she was hard-pressed to disagree. So there she was, being somewhat cold, somewhat friendly, but nothing more.

Hours had passed, and the various papers scattered around the floor soon transitioned into a neat, foot-high stack of pages. The Halfworld Book was gigantic, not only in thickness but the pages themselves were about three times the size of an average book. The two had gotten to about the middle of the text, when she had realized just how much time had gone by. As Rocket turned the page, Sale turned her head to look out the open door of the office. The doorway led into the large, main area hideout. What had previously been brightly lit by the glow of the sun, was now dimly illuminated by the blue-white glow of the moonlight.

Sale slowly stood up, stretching to and fro, hearing the satisfying crack of her spine and adjusting her shirt.

"What is it?" Rocket asked, his voice dry and rough.

"That's enough, I think," She replied, walking out of the small room, and into the open area of the warehouse.

She continued on her path until she was directly underneath the openings in the metal ceiling – what appeared to be claw marks of some ancient giant or a terrifying beast. But that wasn't on her mind right now. She was exhausted, not only due to the amount of work she'd just done, but the mental gymnastics her head had gone through concerning the stupid, dumb, handsome raccoon.

Footsteps approached her. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Rocket. Nothing needed to be said at this point in time. The two were tired, and had been staring at the white and black pages of the scriptures for the entire day. Naturally, a time of rest should come.

Rocket was surprised to see her being the one to call it a day – he'd been wanting to say that for the past few hours. He followed her out and was mesmerized by the sight in front of him. There stood Sale, under the rays of the moonlight, looking up into the night sky. The chestnut, white and black fur on her face were brilliantly lit up by the mystical light of the stars. He continued forth, taking his place beside the raccoon and staring off into space with her. Minutes passed with nothing but the soft breaths of the two echoing throughout the building.

Then Rocket remembered something.

Sale heard his feet scamper away, sounding frenzied, as he ran back into the office.

She was confused and curious. The sounds of objects being thrown around and glass shattering emerged from the small room, as well as a few Earth swears. She giggled. Rocket soon emerged from the office, clutching a large, slender bottle with one hand.

Now she was very curious. Approaching him, she noticed he was looking around for something else. He then seemed to spot it in a large pile of scrapped cars.

"Here, hold this," he said, handing her the bottle and running away once more.

She looked at the object in question. It was covered with alien text – none of which she could decipher. What she did understand, however, was the international symbol for alcohol displayed proudly across the front. She chuckled. Sale then rotated the bottle to its back, and let out a small gasp as she spotted the price tag, stating that this bottle in question was valued at three hundred thousand credits.

Before she could begin to contemplate the reasoning behind Rocket obtaining such an expensive drink, the loud, brash sounds of metal grinding against concrete loudly interrupted her. Looking up, she saw him pulling a couch from behind a pile of metal. She approached to offer help, but once again, the brawny raccoon displayed an impressive amount of strength in pulling the couch from the pile of debris and towards Sale with one arm. He looked up and smirked at her as if it was nothing.

Sale blushed and grinned uncontrollably in response to his stupid, dumb, attractive smile.

Once in position, Sale took a seat beside Rocket on the couch, the worn blue cushions offering an incredible feeling of bliss after multiple hours of working on the hard floor. None of them noticed at this point, but they had been sitting much closer together now – nearly touching – than they had been previously in the day.

"Who's stupid enough to blow three hundred grand on a bottle of booze?" She asked, handing the bottle back to Rocket.

"The guy I stole it from." He laughed and began to unscrew the durable metal cap from the bottle.

"Oh, now it makes sense..." Sale quipped, rolling her eyes.

"He totally had it coming. This asshole puts an ad out saying he was buyin' particle dissipators, right? I have a few, so I go and see him. When I show up he takes one look at me, probably thinking he could get the best of me because well...I'm me, then tries takes my shit and kill me. So uh, heh, I give him a little laser-eye surgery."

"Nice, nice. How'd he take it?"

"Screamed like a bitch. Found this," Rocket said, holding up the bottle, "Of all things, in his safe. Apparently it's the best tasting stuff in the whole galaxy."

"Well is it?"

"I guess we're about to find out."

"You trying to get me drunk, pervert?" Sale laughed.

"I don't need to get you drunk." He purred.

Rocket took a swig from the bottle, swished around the liquid and considered the taste heavily. Sale found humor in how seriously he appeared to look when tasting the drink.

"So how is it?" Sale said.

He was stumped, at a loss for words and confused by the drink's taste. It was like nothing he'd ever tasted before - bitter and sweet, gentle and rough, spicy and refreshing.

"It's..." Rocket zoned out, trying to put it into words.

Instead, he turned to Sale and offered her the bottle. She grabbed it by the neck, and brought it to her lips. After a couple gulps of the drink, she found herself incredibly hydrated, with a slight burning sensation as well. She looked at Rocket with a confused gaze, and saw her own emotion reflected in his eyes.

"Right?" Rocket said.

"It's weird. It's not bad, it's just-"

"Different."

Sale met his eyes.

"Yeah."

Rocket and Sale passed the bottle back and forth, taking swigs and relishing the intriguing taste of the alcohol. Time went on, and they continued until the bottle was empty. Not much conversation was had, but the silence was by no means awkward. It took awhile for Sale to realize this, but the more comfortable she grew with the raccoon, the less of a need she felt to fill the silence with talk. She smiled to herself, growing fonder of Rocket by every passing minute.

 _"What the fuck are you doing, Sale?"_

She took the last drink, polishing off the bottle. Once done, she threw it as fast and as far as she could, hearing the loud, glass shattering against the metal wall several hundred feet away. The two looked to each other and laughed. Then the silence came back. They could both sense that the other had a lot on their minds, and it was obvious the easygoing mood they shared was threatened by some other factor that they'd been ignoring all day.

The two sat in silence, before Rocket scooted a bit closer to Sale, about to clear the fog of suspense and uncertainty. Sale spoke up before he could do so.

"Rocket?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Rocket looked at her in confusion.

"For what-the drink? Oh it's really no problem-"

"That too. But I mean, for...pretty much everything."

Rocket looked at her, seemingly trying to decipher the meaning of the vague statement by studying her face. Sale spoke up once again.

"For taking me here. For...helping me."

Rocket chuckled.

"Well of course."

Sale grew silent. She wanted to do something, and her mind was racing.

So was Rocket's. From the moment he saw those captivating, magical eyes, he knew there was something to this raccoon that would change him. He looked up to her, a look of worry on his face, and decided to think out loud.

"It can't imagine how it'd feel to not remember your past," Rocket started. "And...it's just- I don't really...care about a lot of shit."

He took a deep breath.

"I don't have a lot of respect for...pretty much anything. But, when I met you, I...I don't' know. You were just this strong, independent chick. Someone who stood for good – in one of the worst places in the galaxy. That's just so fucking awesome."

He met her eyes, and his smile grew. So did Sale's, automatically and unbeknownst to her.

"And another thing! A lotta chicks don't got a damn sense of humor! It's fuckin ridiculous!" He chuckled, scooting closer. Their thighs were touching. She looked up at him with a fondness that warmed his heart and egged him on to continue.

"I, uh...I actually don't feel like a freak or vermin or ...some little monster when I'm with you. You make me feel...warm? If that makes sense."

He stopped again, looking at her for some form of validation. His confidence and comfort came back to him.

"And I have this stupid thought running around my head...that like, you happen to be the only other female bipedal raccoon in existence, and you also happen to be most hardcore chick in existence, and I somehow managed to get lucky enough to meet you, to get to know you, and to spend time with you."

Rocket took a breath.

"I don't know if this cheesy or creepy, but I...I feel like..., I feel like you were made for me."

Rocket cleared his throat, and slowly lifted his head to meet her was absolutely speechless. She suspected that he'd feel that way, but, hearing him say it – sitting just a few inches from her – was another thing. She studied his face, as he studied hers. The two simply stared at each other, trying to gauge each other's thoughts.

Rocket was waiting with baited breath as to what she would say. Sale didn't want to say anything. In fact, she wanted Rocket to keep talking, and never stop. He warmed her heart to a point where she felt burning hot, scared, excited and nervous. She looked around the room, trying to catch a breath.

"What're you thinking?" Rocket asked, noticing this.

Sale spoke from the heart, looking away as she did so.

"I think you're dumb as hell."

She scooted closer, still looking away.

"And stupid too. And handsome, and cute, hot, smart, funny, and you make me feel happier than I've ever felt before. Like...in my entire life. Honestly...I feel like you were made for me too."

Sale turned to look at him. Burning brown hazel met stunning vibrant violet.

"T-that we're made for each other."

Rocket's reflected smile soon faded, as more serious and romantic thoughts floated into his mind. He redirected his gaze onto her mouth, imagining how soft and delicate her lips must feel, and how perfectly her muzzle would fuse and meld with his.

Sale noticed this, and her warm grin began to falter as well. The two were sitting side by side and their mouths were inches apart. Rocket and Sale stared deep and longingly into each other's eyes. Warm hazel met vivid purple.

Slowly and tentatively, he reached a hand out to touch the soft fur of her face. He let out a surprised breath, as did she. He'd never felt anything as soft and silky in his entire life. Sale had never been touched so gently and intimately in her entire life. His paw explored her cheek, causing her eyes to drift shut, as she nearly groaned in bliss.

"Sale?" He uttered, his hot breath warming her lips.

"Uh-huh?" She exhaled, her voice quivering slightly. She was deep in uncharted territory, and her skin was on fire.

"You're fucking perfect." He murmured.

Her eyes shot open. She knew what was about to happen. She had no means of preparing herself of what was to come, so she opted to freezing in place as utter shock and fear engulfed her skin. She saw him lean forward, and his more of his hot breath drift across her muzzle. His eyes never left hers.

Then it happened.

Sale felt his soft, moist lips press onto hers like an electric shock, sending signals up to her brain that caused it to crash and burn, reducing her thoughts to nothing and her mind to a blank. Her rigid, tense state melted away. Everything, her entire world, was nothing but the hot, blazing sensation of his lips connecting to hers – and it was a feeling she was instantly addicted to.

Rocket felt time stop, any useless information instantly vanishing – where they were, why they were there...none of that was important. All that mattered to him at this point was how incredibly soft and tender and delectable her lips were. It wasn't his first kiss, but it was the only passionate one he'd ever had. One wherein he'd actually cared – deeply, truly cared – about the person he was kissing. It was an entirely different experience. His mouth felt electrically charged, like delectable sparks extending across his obsidian lips. Rocket tilted his head and continued forward, allowing his muzzle to fully enter hers, every inch of their mouths connecting. Sale nearly melted as a result, their complete kiss sending deep shivers down her spine.

Her lips were a sweet deliciousness the likes of which he'd never tasted – and he wanted more. His heart was thumping out of his chest and his veins were pumping with adrenaline. He wanted so much more, needed it, as if for survival. He buried his hands into the fluff of her cheeks, and growled carnally. Sale stiffened at his touch, her heart accelerating faster as warmth turned to an arousing heat. His paws sent an absolute wildfire across her face, flushing it and bringing her to a drenching sweat. Their kiss had gone on for nearly a minute and a half, and her chest was screaming at her to come up for air. She instinctively pulled back.

Her eyes shot open, as did his.

They were both staring at one another, panting, heaving, quivering.

After a few seconds, Rocket chuckled awkwardly, lowering his paws from her face.

"That was- I forgot to breathe...," He panted.

Sale gazed at Rocket, as he panted and looked up at her for validation. Every second of the kiss was incredible, and she desperately wanted it to continue. The voice of reason in her head was nonexistent at this point and all rationality was gone. There was nothing else in the world but her and him. And she wanted him. She wanted him so much.

However, the few seconds that Sale took to realize this, led Rocket to mistake her prolonged silence as that of shock, or anger.

"S-sorry. I shouldn't-"

Sale had interrupted him with a kiss of her own. She charged into him, grabbing his face with her paws and crashing it against hers. Her lips were eager, passionately and vigorously pressing onto his. It was a warm, wet fire that filled her to the brim. She shoved forth her muzzle harder, frantically.

Sale was in utter bliss. With their muzzles fully connected, She moaned quietly into Rocket's mouth.

The blazing inferno of arousal grew wilder by the second. Rocket exhaled through his nose, sending hot air across her face. Their current position wouldn't do. He needed to be closer – his body was screaming at him to push forward and feel her. All of her.

Rocket broke the kiss and pulled his feet up, transitioning into to a kneel on the cushions of the couch. Sale saw this, and began to do the same, but he couldn't wait. He grabbed her thighs and pulled him toward him and around his pelvis with an overkill strength, causing Sale to fall onto her back. Looming over her, he grinned madly at the sight before him.

Sale huffed. She needed her lips on him. She wrapped both her arms around his neck, running her fingers through the fur on the back of his head. Her lust and desire had gone unsatiated for too long. Rocket took his spot on top of her, pressing his weight against her as he leaned closer and closer. He shoved his arms down and around her back, pressing her against him in a strong, unbreaking embrace.

Romantic touch was unfamiliar to Sale, thus she found it to be an otherworldly sensation - immensely enticing, massively comforting, and exceptionally arousing. The hug was so tight, they felt each other's heartbeats.

Finally, his lips met hers, and she exhaled in unrestrained ecstasy. Gently digging his claws into her sides, Rocket pressed his lips against hers even harder, and slowly brought forth his tongue, delicately tasting her lower lip. The flavor was sweet, and knowing that it was Sale's, made it all the more delectable.

Sale's heartbeat increased exponentially with each action that Rocket took, as she found herself falling deeper and deeper into the unknown. His coarse and wet tongue traced across her lip slowly, alternating between her bottom lip and her mouth's surrounding stray furs. It was exciting, exhilarating, and hot. So very, very hot. She had slowly and sensually migrated her paws from his upper neck to his brawny upper back.

Her tongue began to crave his taste as well, She'd extended it slightly, parting her lips and touching her tongue with his. They met, and battled each other. Rocket exhaled a grunt into her now open mouth. His grip on her love handles tightened, his claws threatening to tear into her shirt. They had begun to spiral out of control, and any amount of restraint or composure was now a very distant memory.

Rocket pushed forward harder, tightly pressing her body to his as they kissed. He'd found the friction to be incredibly arousing, and within minutes, his member had reached it's complete firmness. He ground his hardened length against her with no restraint or shame. Sale had felt his manhood press against her most sensitive areas, and a wave of blood had rushed to her cheeks. She broke the kiss and gasped. Rocket instantly pulled back, worried to death if he'd done something wrong.

Sale looked up at him as he looked down on her. She kept panting, her breaths labored and exhausted as she tried to put into words what she was thinking – but it was impossible. Rocket unknowingly set off the deepest of Sale's carnal desires.

"Sale? Are-" He whispered.

"S-shirt, off." She managed to say.

Rocket nodded rapidly. He unwrapped his arms from her torso, and leaned back on his knees. Maintaining eye contact with the desperate, huffing Sale, he brought his paws to the front of his tanktop. With hand over hand, he pulled it up and back over his head, throwing it aside, and then turning to her.

 _"Yes, yes, yes, yes, fuck yes, I knew he was ripped."_

She was stupidly grinning, mouth open, with saliva coursing down the side of her lip. Rocket began leaning back down onto her, but she wanted to feel him. She wanted to feel his warm, coarse fur, his large, tight pecs, and his chiseled, hard abs burn and rub against her body, not through the fabric of her shirt. She cared not for composure at this point.

"W-wait..." She said, just before Rocket planted his mouth on hers again.

His ears perked up, and he looked at her in confusion.

"Mine...mine too." She uttered.

It took a moment for Rocket to realize what she meant, but when he did, his eyes lit up. He gazed at her - his chestnut eyes lovingly admiring her violet orbs. He sported that same hungry and predatory grin. She'd felt his opposite paw glide across her hip, before working its way under her shirt and gripping it with his thumb. He then brought both paws down, only to slowly work their way up and remove her shirt with them. She'd grown distressed, as they hadn't kissed for about a minute now. With a huff, she'd soon realized that he purposely running his hands across her at an excruciatingly slow pace, withholding kisses, all to get her riled up, much like she did with him in the past. However, just knowing this didn't make it any easier for her to resist him. She contracted her shoulders, lifting her arms and neck slightly, and allowed Rocket to fully remove the white tanktop. He carelessly tossed it to the side. He leaned back into a kneel, his legs in between hers, to gawk and marvel at the sight before her.

Sale laid on her back, arms sprawled up by her head, as she stared at him with a hungry glare, as if she'd been starving for months. She took deep, labored breaths through a wide open maw, sweating and blushing. And she was shirtless. Her chestnut fur transitioned into a lighter tone down her belly. Her red bra pushed up against her full breasts, cupping and presenting them in a stunning, perfect display. Her chest heaved and rose with every breath, and she was growing impatient with Rocket simply staring at her.

Slowly and deliberately, he began lowering himself back over her. Their nearly-bare bodies slid across one another with the sensation of a burning sun. His paws ran along her sides once more, before migrating to her back. One teased about her wide hips, while the other pushed against up her back, forcing her breasts harder against his chest. She whimpered at the action.

Rocket leaned in for a kiss, but stopped just a few inches away. He watched her as she closed her eyes in anticipation, before slowly opening confusedly. Rocket smiled at her with a toothy grin. Sale, however, was pissed off beyond belief. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed at his head, digging her claws into the fur, and pulled it down onto hers, crashing her lips into his. Their kisses were wet, sloppy, and aggressive. Time after time, Sale pulled his head down harder against hers, dragging her tongue from the roof of his mouth, down back of his throat. Their noses were constantly exhaling onto each others cheeks, their breaths hot, rapid, frantic, and loud.

Sale angrily pressed up into him, her thirst for his saliva never ceasing, her hunger for the taste of his lips growing exponentially. She whimpered upon experiencing the sensation once more, her body loosening and relaxing in Rocket's grip. Their wet mouths never broke connection, and Sale's moans continued to grow in volume.

As Rocket pinned Sale deeper into the couch, his hunger grew. He brought his hips down harder against Sale's, dragging his stiff bulge over the her crotch repeatedly. Again and again, he slid back and pushed forward harder. The springs of the couch squeaked as Rocket slowly and rhythmically dry humped her.

Her own heat and arousal was just as active. Sale could feel the full length of his cock pressing against her, and it drove her wild with need. She broke the kiss, separating from his lips and arching her back to let out a noise she'd never made before – a half whimper, half gasp.

"Mmhhff, p-pants.." She huffed.

Rocket understood her love-drunk words clearly, lumbering off of her and reeling back onto his knees. Frantically and ungracefully, he flung his orange and blue pants off. Rocket kneeled, wearing nothing but his plaid blue boxers. Sale sat up, flustered and shirtless, her red bra glowing in the moonlight. He placed a paw on the hem of his boxers, fixing to take them off, before Sale stopped him.

She scooted closer, maneuvering so Rocket's legs were now on either side of her, and she was sitting up, eye level with his crotch. At that distance, the bulge was large, girthy, and intimidating. And the smell – every synapse of Sale's brain was firing off at once. This new smell was now her absolute favorite. It set her crotch on fire and gripped her heart, pumping her veins with a ruthless lust. It was a carnal desire that she couldn't resist. She shoved her face into his bulge, inhaling loudly with her snout.

Rocket groaned, and his cock twitched, the fabric of his boxers ruffling Sale's whiskers.

She couldn't wait any longer. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to taste every inch of Rocket's thick, sweaty cock and swallow loads of his hot cum.

She pulled down his boxers, and he shimmied his knees to allow them to slide off of his legs completely. One free of its confines, it had slapped her across the muzzle. She exhaled, and opened her eyes, and let out another long, dreamy breath upon seeing the sight.

The night was bright, and brilliantly illuminated was Rocket's cock. A thick, red, glistening shaft stuck out from a patch of matted, sweaty fur. It had a slightly curved and pointed tip, which leaked precum and coated the fleshy, veiny, rose-colored thick shaft with a shiny layer of moistness, and at its base were two large, furred balls.

She brought forth a paw to feel his member. At the touch, Rocket flinched and cursed loudly. He grabbed her shoulder with a fierce grip, panting with his tongue out. Sale continued, caressing his cock with her hands and curiously exploring it's wet, fleshy texture. Her free hand moved up to feel up his hard abs, the other continuing to feel and experiment on the raccoon's twitching dick. Her paw pads were soft, albeit a little rigid, so she knew she'd have to take to another means to get that climax out of him. Sale licked her slips, and gulped.

"Rocket, I've never-" She started.

"Do whatever you want and I'll fucking love it, Sale." Rocket managed to get out in one breath.

They met eyes and their hearts were instantly at ease. Sale felt any remnants of fear or restraint wash away, as her mind was suddenly overjoyed with possibilities.

With no hesitation, Sale buried her nose under Rocket's cock, inhaling the absolute intoxicant that was his musk. Her nose was planted underneath his thick shaft as she sniffed and relished in his scent. Her crotch burned with need, her ovaries firing up and screaming at her in response to the aroma. She pursed her lips and planted several soft, gentle kisses at his balls and at base of his penis. A slight tinge of his unique taste graced her lips, but she wanted more. She moved up the length of his shaft, her kisses growing in passion and wetness. She heard his breathing accelerate. She felt her own heartbeat in her ears. Soon she was at the top, and she planted a gentle a quick kiss to his tip.

She looked at his cock, and couldn't help but wonder how sore her mouth would be by the end of this. The thought inexplicably excited her to no end. She gazed up at him. Rocket was panting and sweaty. His eyes were shut tight, his teeth gritted against each other and chest was heaving.

 _"He's so fucking hot."_

She smiled and brought forth her tongue. She wetly kissed the tip again, but the time, slid down, widening her mouth and engulfing the cock in her muzzle. The head of his shaft dragged across the wet roof of her mouth, heading further until it hit the back of her throat.

Sale reached the base of his shaft, her head pressed right up against his toned stomach. She licked and lathered his cock, ingesting his sweat, precum and musk. Her eyes shot open, and she pulled up quickly, his dick springing from her mouth.

Rocket looked to her, flustered beyond belief, but confused at her sudden stop. Sale grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down to her while she leaned up. It was an awkward position but Sale desperately needed to kiss him. She slammed her lips quickly and passionately, before separating with a pure grin.

"You taste so fucking good."

And with that, she shot back down to his crotch, enveloping his length into her mouth once again, as she eagerly and hungrily sucked him off. She slurped and sucked at his cock, filling the air with wet, loud, lewd sounds.

"Sale. Sale. Sale-Oh, god, fuck."

Rocket continued babbling, moaning her name and cursing at anything and everything. He grunted and gasped in delight, all of which made Sale's heart flutter with confidence. She bobbed her head back and forth, coating every area of his dick with ludicrous amounts of saliva, all the while swallowing any and all liquids that entered her mouth. Her hands gripped his hard, muscled thighs as she worked. Her excitement was infectious, and his vocal reactions fueled her to no end. Whenever she'd suck up the liquids of his leaky cock, or flick her tongue against his tip, his hold on her head would tighten, and he'd cry out her name in distressed, guttural fashion. Her pussy was throbbing at this point, and the frantic, pleading moans that she made with his cock in her mouth sent vibrations across his length pushed him over the edge. But it was too soon. He'd barely lasted five minutes of Sale's frenzied, passionate blowjob.

"S-sale, I'm-" He started, using his vice-like grip on her head to push her back, away from his crotch.

But she fought back, using strength she didn't even know she had to fight his grasp and shove forward back onto his cock, not stopping and in fact, sucking him off faster. He wanted it to last longer, but couldn't help himself as his hips began to buck into her mouth.

Sale found herself gagging at the violent force of his cock, and she loved it. She reached her hands around to grip his tight, muscled ass and force him harder into her mouth. He was constantly slamming the back of her throat, and she'd gone for minutes at a time without breathing. Her moans graduated to cries of lust and pain onto his cock, as she clamped shut her eyes, tears streaking down her face.

She could feel his rapid heartbeat through the spastic twitches of his cock in her mouth, as more and more spurts of precum swished around in her mouth. Rocket's claws sunk into her skull and he viciously slammed his dick into her head. Sale choked, gagged and coughed onto his cock before remembering to breathe through her nose to avoid falling unconscious. Every hump into her mouth grew more powerful, but her lust never turned to fear. It was too strong.

Then, Rocket finished. With one last, angry thrust, he jammed his cock deep into Sale's throat, growling, and barking an onslaught of curses. His dick exploded and shot out spurt after spurt of hot, sticky cum deep into Sale's throat.

Instinctively, she swallowed as much as she could before she began to choke. She pulled her head back, gasping for air. Thick ropes of ejaculate dripped from her mouth as she caught her breath. She then brought her tongue out, lapping up any and all traces of cum from his cock, her mouth, and her cheeks. Sale sighed in ecstasy upon ingesting his seed, enjoying the salted, pure taste thoroughly.

 _"It tastes like how he fucking smells."_

As Rocket came down from his meteoric high, Sale flopped back onto the couch in utter exhaustion. He watched her for a few moments. Her eye makeup ran, and left dark black streaks across her face. Her eyes were watery, and his cum was on her cheeks, mouth, and neck. Her eyes slowly opened, and she smiled at him. He crawled back over her, resting a bit above her, to stare at her close-up.

"That was..." He heaved, panting in her face. "You're so fucking amazing."

"My jaw hurts." She stated, chuckling.

"S-sorry."

"Don't fucking apologize. I..I loved that."

"Me too."

He leaned in and kissed her. She reciprocated, tentatively and out of breath. He separated, planting kisses on her ruffled, sticky cheeks, then beginning licking her fur clean. He continued down her neck, across her collarbone, then onto the red fabric of her bra.

He rested his weight on his left hand, and with the right, reached back and expertly undid the hook of Sale's bra, all the while maintaining eye contact and sporting that same, stupid smirk. She pushed forward her shoulders as he peeled off her brassiere, quickly tossing it aside. Just as quickly, her sizeable tits burst free from their confines, bouncing and settling on her chest.

Rocket wasted no time, diving head-first into her right breast, slathering the short, soft, light-brown cream colored fur, in his saliva. Sale's head shot back, and she arched up into his grasp. He dug his strong arms under her again, trapping her against him in a tight embrace while he continued his assault on her large bust with his tongue. His muzzle coated the entire surface area with licks and hungry kisses. He soon quit his teasing and jammed his mouth onto her light-brown nipple, suckling on it with a frantic passion. Sale whimpered, and weakly brought forth a paw to cup around his head as he nursed on her tit. This fired him up further, as he took to the left breast, devouring it much harder. His teeth grazed her nipple before he began sucking on the sensitive flesh as hard as his lungs would allow. The pressure and suction brought Sale to a cry.

"God, Fuck!"

The thirsty, hungry lips of Rocket passionately suckled Sale's large breast nonstop. Alternating, he switched to the right boob, bringing his paw from her back to fiercely grip the left. His paws squished and kneaded at her tit while he sucked the other ruthlessly and without restraint. After a few minutes, he separated, and looked up at her. She was panting and sweating.

 _"This is the best fucking day of my life."_

"You're...you're amazing, Sale," He cooed.

"Rocket. I...you got me so fuckin fired up, I...I need..."

"You...need?" Rocket asked, his voice smooth and sultry. He rose from her tits, looming over her with his hands now on either side of her head. She looked up at him, a flustered mess.

"I need to..." She started, blushing and panting.

"...To get off?" He asked bluntly, smirking. "I'll getcha off, don't worry babe."

Rocket's head traveled downwards, and his cheeky face dropped out of sight.

"Don't fucking call me ba-AABE!" Sale exclaimed, suddenly finding her legs thrown up in the air to be draped around Rocket's broad shoulders.

Without asking, without warning, Rocket began making short work of Sale's pants. Like a wild animal, he pulled and tugged on them without any shame. The black pants soon flew off her feet with a careless toss, and Rocket's breath was hitched in his throat.

"Fuck. Yes." He stated, his smile vanishing.

His teasing gaze shifted off of her lavender eyes, and transitioned into a hungry, predatory, lustful stare at her matching red panties. Sale was nearly trembling. The sudden airflow to her crotch, as well as the feeling of his passionate gaze, sent her heart fluttering. The raccoon's motions were swift and smooth. He lowered himself down onto his stomach, his head a mere inches away from her loins.

"Shouldn't you...take 'em off?" Sale asked.

"I wanna do what you did." Rocket replied.

He then pushed forward. His nose dove into her panties, shoving into her crotch, and he took a long, deep, inhale.

"A-aah!" Sale cried.

His snout nearly penetrated her through her underwear, the sudden contact sending an explosion of electric bliss that rendered her speechless. His nose became damp as he felt the wetness seep through her underwear and moisten him. He sniffed and took as much of her scent as he could in one breath. It had the desired effect of sending his lust skyrocketing.

He instinctively emitted a low grumble from deep in his throat. Her natural female scent grew the fire in his crotch and filled him with a hunger that he desperately needed to satiate. He pressed forth and inhaled again, tilting his head and dragging his muzzle across Sale's damp panties. She moaned once more in return. Rocket's mouth dropped open and his tongue slipped out, starting at the base of her entrance and moving up to the hem of her underwear.

Her thick tail was thrashing underneath him now, and his waved behind him in turn. The desire to eat his fill of the Sale's sopping wet cunt overtook him. Growling, he gripped the thin sides of her red panties and pulled them back, up and over her legs faster than she could comprehend. Sale's dripping pussy was out in the open air now, and even the warm breeze of the air sent shivers down her spine. Then Rocket went down on her, and his broad tongue came down crashing over Sale's tight pussy, lapping up her juices.

"Shit! Oh...fuck..." She moaned.

Sale threw her arms down and grabbed his head, hoping to steady herself. But Rocket couldn't be contained. His licks were desperate, and brimming with enthusiasm. He licked, slurped, and sucked at her sweet cunt before separating and coming up for air. Rocket leaned back up and over Sale, moving his face inches from hers. He waited till her eyes fluttered open before he dove in and kissed her. It was quick, wet, and passionate. He pulled back, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Y-you taste really fucking good too, Sale."

She blushed and smiled, using the grip she still had on his head to pull him back in for another kiss. After this, Rocket dove back down to her crotch, and began his assault on her pussy.

His kisses on her entrance grew harder and deeper, and before long, he'd planted sloppy, wet kisses on every inch of her. There was no more buildup, and only one thing left to do. Rocket's tongue slipped inside of Sale with a slippery ease. His jaw opened wider and sunk deeper in, as his teeth traced edges around her.

"Fuck! Fuck, Rocket!" Sale cried.

Her hands tightened on his head and shoved him deeper. His broad tongue entered deeper, tracing every inch of her walls in exploratory circles that caused Sale to shiver. He brought forth his arms and planted his strong, powerful paws on her thighs. He spread them out further as he pushed deeper in.

Sale's head shot back again. Her eyes were stuck open, staring at the night sky and stars above. Pleasure overwhelmed her mind and her vision was locked above. She focused on nothing but the sensations and the absolute, torturous ecstasy she was in.

Rocket delighted in every drop of her fluids. The feminine, salty taste was kindle to the bonfire of his lust. By this point, his saliva and her juices were spread all over his mouth. Her cries made him hornier than he ever thought he could be, and his flaccid dick grew to a raging boner in minutes. He grunted and groaned into her pussy, sending aggressive vibrations that elicited frantic whimpers from Sale.

Between the strong grip he had on her, and his tongue lashing about inside her, Sale was in complete bliss. No thoughts were in her head anymore. In the midst of this, she found one hand leaving Rocket's head and traveling down to the top of her pussy. Instinctively, Sale began massaging her clitoris, and she gasped.

He looked up at her. She began to breathe harder. Her chest was heaving and she was rubbing at her clit with a steady pace and a circular motion. Rocket smirked. She'd almost lost it, and he barely started! He couldn't help but wondered just how flustered and horny he could get Sale, and his curiously couldn't be ignored.

With his index finger, delicately keeping his claw sheathed, he dragged his finger pad up and down her entrance, before sliding it in and exploring her moist tunnel. Sale bucked her hips towards him, and her breaths grew harder and her moans grew louder. He wasted no time in bringing forth his second finger, pushing it inside her pussy. With both fingers inside her now, he separated them, and thus, spreading her walls.

"Rocket! Fuck!" She shouted.

He rotated his fingers, spreading and massaging her wet tunnel. He was constantly changing patterns and altering rhythm, all to get her to that perfect climax. He rubbed and stroked her moist interior as she whined and breathed sharply. With his mouth unoccupied, he decided to relieve Sale of her duty. Rocket leaned his head forward and started sucking on her clitoris. Her back arched and she gasped.

"Fucking goddamn it, Rocket! Fuck! I can't- Aah!"

The thin black strips of his lips were soaked with cunt. His tongue lapped and swirled around her clit, stimulating it to no end. He slipped a third finger into her tight pussy and was met with great resistance. His paws kept a hold of her hips as her bucking got more powerful and frantic.

"Fuck! God- Oh, oh fuck, fuck!"

His fingers traced around her gspot before rubbing back and forth against it viciously. He suckled harder on her clit, and continued his attack on her pussy. His fingers slid over the spot back and forth, harder and faster until his hand was pulling out and shoving into her pussy entirely. She was completely frantic now. And he absolutely adored the view. Sucking on her clit, he looked up and saw Sale with her head back, chest heaving, and her large breasts bouncing with every sudden gasp and moan. Sweat glistened off her fur and illuminated every curve of her body and definition of her muscles.

"Yeah-p-please, Rocket, fuck!"

A dastardly thought entered his mind, and he executed it with no remorse. He nibbled at her clit with his teeth, lightly and gently. But it was enough to do the trick. He'd pushed her off the cliff she'd been inching toward, and her ecstasy and pleasure reached its crescendo.

Sale screamed. Her arms shot forth and grabbed whatever she could, digging her claws as deep as she could into them. Her back arched like it never had before. Every muscle in her body shivered as wave after wave of intense pleasure rolled over her, washing across her skin and engulfing her fur. Her eyes clamped shut, tears bursting. Her sensitive cunt clamped down around Rocket's fingers and coated them with a wave of her warm liquids.

After lurching forward for a few never-ending seconds, she collapsed down onto the couch once more. Her tense muscles had never felt so relaxed. It took awhile for her mind to catch up with her, as she sunk back into the cushions of the couch. Rocket leaned over her for a while, then spotted what he thought was enough room for himself, beside her on the couch. He shifted and scooted, trying to lay next to Sale on the narrow sofa.

He misjudged the amount of space there was, and fell backwards onto the cement floor.

Rocket sat up, embarrassed, and looked to Sale, who began to chuckle. Rocket followed suit, and soon the two erupted in uproarious laughter.

"You fuckin' dumbass!" She laughed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," He replied, nodding. "The bed in my room fits both of us."

He stood up, picking up both of their discarded clothes and shoving them into one bundle under his arm.

"Go ahead, I just...I need a second."

"Sure."

Rocket walked over to his old room. Sale looked up as he stepped away, admiring his muscled, tight ass as it flexed and contracted with each step. She chuckled, and leaned her head back once more.

 _"What the fuck are you doing, Sale?"_

Reality was coming back to her, and the weight of her actions fell upon her like a ton of bricks. She sucked Rocket's cock. And he ate her out to completion. Was he her boyfriend now? Her mate? What would this mean for their partnership? How awkward were things going to get from here? The overthinking and fear caused her to spiral.

Then Rocket was back there by the couch, picking Sale up in his arms, bridal-style.

She let out a surprised gasp, grasping at his shoulders and meeting his eyes.

He gazed at her, his soft brown eyes bringing a sense of familiarity and comfort to her. His brawny, strong arms around her filled her with a sense of security that demolished any anxiety she had. The moon backlit the fur on his head, illuminating his features and she had no doubts that he was the sexiest being in the entire galaxy.

"Hey." He cooed, walking slowly toward the room.

"H-hi..." She uttered.

"How're you feeling?"

"I don't know."

He noticed her hesitations.

"You okay?"

"Are you my boyfriend now, Rocket?"

"If you want," He chuckled. "I'd love that."

"But what does that mean? I've never...what happens now? Or-tomorrow? What do we do?"

Rocket entered the room, lumbering over the the side of the bed, and gently placing Sale down on the right side. He then sauntered over to the opposite side and crawled onto the mattress. He shuffled closer to her, propping his head up on his arm and gazing at her lovingly, a position that mirrored Sale's.

"Well, tomorrow we're gunna gather our shit, get back to your ship, and finish decoding the Half-World book. You know that."

"But, I mean, after? Will we-"

"Hey, let's just deal with it as it comes, alright?"

"That's hard for me, I'm not like you."

"You worry too much."

"It kept me alive this long."

"I'd say we're out of danger, so long as we stick together."

"Together."

"Yeah."

"...forever?" Sale uttered, the words leaving her mouth before she had a chance to process them.

Rocket chuckled, shuffling closer to her. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close, before pinning down onto the bed, with his brawny mass hovering over her. He leaned in and placed a delicate kiss on her cheek, leaning into her ear and letting out a soft exhale.

"Forever."

Sale trembled, and exhaled.

Rocket's cock was nearly fully erect. The moist, leaky dick dragged over Sale's stomach leaving a sticky trail of precum wherever it touched. His hard length sent a hot sensation across her fur, and she felt that burning desire rekindle. She pulled him down and met his lips angrily. She began with repeated pecks on the front portion of his mouth, with dozens of soft, hungry kisses peppered every inch of his lips. It didn't take long for them to grow deeper.

Rocket held his weight up with a paw on either side of her head while diving down and pressing his body against hers. His muzzle was fully connected with hers, and their tongues met once again, her taste being was just as delicious as it ever was. They panted into each other's mouths. Sale sighed in bliss, and Rocket groaned.

His throbbing, wet cock was pinned between his abs and her stomach. It twitched and pulsated. He was soon grinding it up and down her body, coating her fur in his slick juices. Sale whimpered into his mouth. Her hands had found their way to his broad shoulders, and she was clinging on for dear life.

"Mmfh, Rocket.." She sighed, breaking the kiss. "Please."

"Hmm?"

"P-put, shove. Shove it in. All."

He didn't need to be told twice. He positioned himself at her entrance, his hot tip nudging at her folds. She gasped in shock, her cunt still sensitive. Rocket noticed this, and hesitated. He arched his back and slid his thick cock slowly and carefully into her moist tunnel.

Sale cried out, and Rocket let out a surprised gasp. Sale underestimated the overall length and girth of Rocket's dick, as it seemed to painfully stretch her inner walls apart. Rocket had never felt his shaft be embedded in something so tight before as he nearly collapsed, shuddering and shivering into her neck.

The two took the time to catch their breaths, and eventually caught eyes. Rocket gazed down at Sale, her expression reading one of pain, anxiety, and pleasure. Rocket slowly brought his cock out of Sale, then shoving it back in. The two resumed their cannibalistic kissing and their paws traveled all over each other. Sale brought her legs around his hips and contracted them, thrusting him against her harder and indicating that she wanted a faster pace. He obliged, sliding in and out of her slightly quicker.

The squeaking of the old mattress grew louder with each thrust. Curious paws eventually found their way over to Sale's chest. He eagerly and vigorously caressed her plump, sizable breasts. Sale had moaned into his mouth once more, her voice's pitch increasing with every thrust. He found her fur was much softer on this part of her body, allowing his paws to glide across them with ease. His hands were full as can be with Sale's breasts in each paw, his grip tightening with each thrust, extracting a small moan from Sale in response.

He'd begun to pump faster, his cock shoving ever deeper into her. Sale had threw her head to the side, letting out a broken gasp. Acting on pure instinct, Rocket removed his hands from her breasts and wrapped around her back, holding her closer to him. She'd begun to arch her back, her staggered breaths and frantic moans being an absolute symphony to his ears. Rocket opened his eyes after having them closed after sheer concentration, to view the incredible sight before him. Sale had her eyes tightly shut, her jaw hanging slightly agape as she heavily panted, and her breasts bounced beautifully with every trust.

Sale's mind was no longer with her. She quivered and moaned in response to his every touch. Her panicked breaths grew louder, and her moans had reached arousingly loud volume. He pumped faster, his cock banging against the wall of her cervix and leaving her pussy lips repeatedly, all within intense one-second intervals. He moved like a blur, crushing her against him with his strong arms and pounding her powerfully. The initial pain was gone, and the pleasure overwhelmed her.

Rocket gasped, and quickly pulled out of her. Sale trembled, shaking underneath his grasp. The two stared at each other for a few minutes. They panted hot breaths into each others faces, hearts thumping rapidly.

"What're you-," Sale breathed.

"You're amazing." Rocket chuckled.

"Why did...why'd you stop?"

Rocket gripped her hips, sliding her forward and flipping her over. Her head dove into the pillow, and she pulled up, resting her weight on her forearms. A blush washed over her cheeks as she soon realized the exposed position she was in. Face down, ass up.

His tail was thrashing excitedly.

"I've been wanting to do this for so fucking long."

He dove his muzzle straight into her moist heat, and his face became completely submerged into her ass. He lapped up and sucked at her juices, rolling his head around and shamelessly motor-boating the raccoon's thick butt cheeks.

"A-ah, you stupid dumbass..."

"Mmmff." Rocket purred, his muzzle deep in between her plump mounds.

"Allright, quit fuckin' around..."

Rocket did as instructed, pulling his muzzle out of her and rising up. He leaned up and positioned his cock and slid inside of her, pushing forward with a slow and deliberate thrust. He groaned at the overwhelming pleasure of having Sale's fat ass slam against his thighs, crotch, and stomach. The two supple, soft globes of fur brushed up firmly against him, and he was lost in bliss.

"Fuck. Yes..."

He grabbed the base of her tail and thrust against her harder. Within seconds, the raccoon got into a rhythm that drove them both wild. Sale dove her claws into the mattress, and her tongue fell out of her mouth. She instantly realized she loved getting fucked from behind. Rocket reached his free paw far back behind him, only to slam it forward onto her butt with a loud, sharp smack.

"Ah! Fuck!" Sale cried. "God, Fuck, do that again!"

Rocket obliged, spanking Sale as hard as he could. Her cries of pain and pleasure drove him mad, and he began pumping into her harder, shoving his cock deep between her thick ass and once again slamming against the walls of her cervix. His balls were swinging and thumping against her clitoris, his girthy, thick cock was absolutely destroying her tight pussy, and he mercilessly brought his paw back to her ass with sharp, hard spanks. Her cries grew louder and sharper, all fueling Rocket's insatiable lust.

"I'm...R-Rocket, I'm close..." She panted.

He wasted no time in picking up the pace. He slapped her ass one more time, before leaning back down over her. He moved both paws up and under her body to grip her swinging breasts with a vice-like grip. He used his leverage and strength to slam his entire body into her with extreme force. The sensation of Sale's thick ass bouncing and slamming up against him, the tightness of her cunt around his cock, and the feeling of her heavy tits in his paws was absolutely otherworldly, and it overwhelmed him.

"Fuck! Sale! God fucking damn! Fuck!" He shouted, gritting his teeth and fucking Sale with more intensity than an exploding star.

"Rocket, Fuck! Please! Oh, fuck!"

Sale's cries grew louder, and Rocket began to rhythmically grunt into her neck. They were both past the point of no return. Sale's inner walls began to tighten around Rocket, as he thrusted deeper and faster that he'd ever had.

Then, in unison, they climaxed. Sale shrieked as she'd felt a flood of sensation unlike anything she'd felt before. Her pussy gripped Rocket's cock as he'd ejaculated load after load of hot, milky cum inside of her. Rocket cursed loudly into her neck, overrun with sensation, emotion, and energy. It was as if they'd both been approaching this cliff all night, and the sensation of jumping off was more than emotionally comprehensive. Sale's body shook and shuddered, her claws sinking deeper into the mattress. Rocket's grip around her was strong, and she was nearly crushed as he came inside her.

Minutes passed where nothing else occurred but breathing. Then slowly, with great care, he slid his spent cock out of her. Sale collapsed onto the bed soon after, and Rocket followed suit. The two lay side by side, staring at the ceiling.

"Fuck..." She exhaled.

Rocket grunted in agreement.

The two were exhausted. Rocket leaned over, and picked up two pillows and a blanket off the ground, both which had fallen off as a result of their frantic fucking. He'd gently and carefully slipped one under Sale's head, and placed one down for him. Sale playfully took the blanket from him, and rolled over.

"Night," She said.

Rocket felt a grin grow across his face. He'd pulled the same blanket over his own body, as well, pressing up against her backside and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'm the big spoon," He joked.

"I can feel your wet cock on my ass, dude."

Rocket chuckled, as he realized that he was, in fact, pressing his flaccid penis up against her. A few moments passed, and without thinking, Rocket brought his hands to her butt, feeling and kneading her plump ass. Then he realized something else. He became fully erect in a matter of seconds, and an idea came to mind.

"Round two?"

She laughed, a wicked smile finding its way on her face as well.

"I'm on top this time." Sale teased.

And so they fucked. Again, and again. The two found it incredibly hard to sleep within each other's proximity without losing control and having frantic, passionate sex. It was nearly morning when they'd climaxed for the fifth time, both gazing lovingly into each others eyes and exchanging wet, loving, tired kisses. Sale's eyes began to flutter, and Rocket's followed suit. They snuggled together, interlocking paws and sharing gentle kisses. She yawned before burying her head into his strong chest. Rocket comfortably rested his head atop hers, enjoying her fruity, musky, sweaty aroma.

They were both moments from falling asleep, before Rocket spoke up.

"Sale?"

Sale groaned.

"I just wanted to say..."

Rocket cleared his throat.

"I... I think I'm in love with you." Rocket said.

His voice cracked not only due to his severe exhaustion, but because of the sincerity of his words. He'd never been more sure of anything of his life, but as the words left his mouth, he started to doubt the timing of such an action. The fact that Sale remained silent further caused him to worry.

"Sale?" He asked.

She didn't answer, as she was asleep.

As soon as he'd noticed this, a wave a relief washed over him, and he let out a grateful sigh, gently chuckling at his luck. As Rocket felt consciousness begin to leave him, he had a level of happiness that he'd never had before. His heart beat stronger and with more purpose, As he gently stroked her fur, he couldn't help but stupidly grin in retrospect of the days events, and what they'd caused him to realize. Rocket was hopelessly in love.


	4. Hooked On A Feeling

**Rocket and The Imp**

 **[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]**

 **Chapter Four – Hooked On A Feeling**

* * *

The next day, Rocket and Sale had departed from the desert planet Othinn, and soon found a safe spot in deep space to idle. Hours turned to days as the two continued their work decrypting the Half-World book. The initial translation had been completed, but they had later found out that there was much more work to be done.

Earlier on, they figured out that the book didn't entirely make sense. Words were out of place, sentences were scrambled, and there were an abundance of nonsensical decoy words. It was up to the two of them to reorganize the text, decipher the legitimate words, and to piece together the true contents and meaning of the book. And under the weight of all this work, Rocket and Sale grew much closer. The two found themselves realizing they both shared many similarities, and were extremely...compatible. After hours of mentally-draining work, they shared dinner, laughed, relaxed, and snuggled off to bed.

Sale awoke the next morning to find Rocket already awake and staring at a tablet. The shirtless raccoon looked entranced by the screen, and deep in thought. Sale made no move to alert him to her presence, instead watching him and trying to decipher his mood.

She saw his brow furrow slightly, his mouth tremble, and his whiskers twitch. She saw a look of fondness wash over him, followed by sadness. Sale stared long enough at his eyes to see the images of the tablet's screen reflect in the brown orbs.

Rocket was looking pictures of his friends, the Guardians. She saw one of Rocket and Groot taking a selfie together, Rocket and Drax drinking together, and a publicity shot of all of the Guardians of the Galaxy at the Nova-Corp headquarters. He grinned slightly.

"You miss them, don't you?" Sale spoke, her voice dry and raspy.

"Oh, good morning." Rocket replied, shoving the tablet aside and turning to Sale.

She watched him patiently, saying nothing.

"Uh, yeah. It's- its just been a while."

Sale nodded, scooting closer and urging Rocket to continue.

"They've been trying real hard to reach me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they said they...need me for something. Sounds really important."

"They need you?"

Rocket nodded.

A long, troublesome silence washed over the two as they thought about it.

"Are you going to-" Sale started.

"No," Rocket interrupted.

He looked at her with a solemn look in his eyes.

"You're what's important to me now. Not them."

"Rocket, that's sweet. But...stupid."

"What?-"

"They need you, Rocket?"

"Well yeah, they said-"

"They're your friends, and they need you?"

"Sale, I just... I don't wanna leave you."

"Will it take forever?"

"Well, no. But-"

"Then what the fuck you worried about?"

"It's just...I don't know," Rocket sighed. "What if you came with me?!"

"You saw how much more work there is to do with the book."

"Yeah but-"

"Rocket, I...I've just gone so long not knowing. I can't stop with the book. I just can't, I'm sorry."

"I get it- I understand. I'll stay and help-"

"Listen, I know how much you care. But...I saw it in your eyes. You need to see them."

Rocket sighed.

"Things didn't exactly end on good terms."

"I bet."

"I didn't want to care. I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does."

"Because they're your fucking friends, dipshit."

Rocket chuckled.

"Yeah..."

She saw the worry slowly fade from his eyes.

"I don't think it will be that long...but-"

"I know how to take care of myself."

She leaned in and gently kissed him on the side of the muzzle. Rocket smashed his mouth into hers, clutching her head and pressing it to his. Their tongues savagely explored one another, each drop of saliva tasting just as enticing as it always did. After a passionate minute of kissing, Rocket separated from her, panting and meeting her eyes.

"I didn't think it'd be possible to fall for you more than I already have," He smiled. "But you keep fuckin' surprising me."

Sale felt her heart flutter at the words, and after another round of intense, passionate kissing, the two prepared for their temporary separation.

Rocket gathered his things, whilst Sale sent their ships current coordinates to the Guardians for pickup. A lot of preparations were made, but the minutes went by like seconds, and before she knew it, she was standing before Rocket in front of the airlock making her last goodbye.

"Just a couple of days." He reassured.

"Y-yeah," She muttered.

"You'll be fine?" He asked.

"Obviously." She answered.

Rocket began turning to initiate the airlock sequence before Sale stopped him.

"Wait!" She interjected, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small metal band.

It was his old bracelet, from the lab.

"Did you want this back? You gave it to me, I don't know if-"

Rocket leaned in, and put his paw over hers, closing the hand that held it.

"Keep it. To remember me."

Sale dryly chuckled, fighting back tears.

"Well now I feel shitty-I didn't get you anything."

Rocket turned back, then gripped the small of her back with vigor.

They both stared into each others eyes, his earthy hazel eyes meeting her vivid violet ones. Then he kissed her. It wasn't the longest kiss they've shared, but it was just as passionate and loving as their first. He then broke it, stepping back and hitting the button to the door behind him.

"You gave me that," He said.

And with that, the door closed. Rocket, with his oxygen suit and helmet, drifted into space. There he was promptly beamed up by the Milano, which had arrived moments earlier.

Then Sale was alone.

She sighed.

On the verge of crying, she reminded herself of something.

 _"Don't be weak..."_

She smiled.

Her mantra had a much different meaning to her now.

* * *

Somewhere out in space, a few light years outside of Othinn, another ship idled.

The Behemoth.

The spacecraft in question was much louder than usual. On a regular day, Captain BlackJack O'Hare would demand extreme silence under threat of death, but today was different.

He was locked away in the ship's conference room, awaiting a call from his superior. The entire ship's crew was on edge, frantically awaiting the news this meeting would bring.

O'Hare himself stared motionless at the screen, occasionally twitching. He stood waiting, heart racing and thoughts non-existent. He'd been reassured time and time again of his place – that he was but a mere foot soldier in something much more bigger than he ever could've imagined. O'Hare was devoid of any other emotions save for anger and fear. Every second he waited added another ton of stress and anxiety to rest on his shoulders. The situation he was in – that we was brought into – drove him utterly and completely insane – but just insane enough to be controlled.

Soon the screen lit up, and a figure materialized from the static. A dark, hooded figure with a long, protruding pink snout.

A deep, threatening voice filled the room as it began to speak.

"You will pick up the pace, O'Hare."

The rabbit's heart thumped in his ears.

"Close in. Faster," He continued.

"Yes, Master Jakes," BlackJack blankly said, "We are on standby, awaiting for an opportunity."

"You have their location?"

"Yes, Master Jakes. We will ambush when the time is right."

"And how will you know when the time is right, exactly?"

"Master Jakes, I've had an intuition. Thanks to you."

The hooded mole sighed heavily.

"That had better be soon. It's absolutely imperative that I retrieve that book before they have it for too long."

"Yes, Master Jakes. Understood."

"Do not fail me."

The call then cut out, dimming the room once more as the shaking rabbit stood there in the darkness. He twitched his head a few times, before spinning around and quickly walking back to the captain's chair. As soon as the doors to the conference room had unlocked, commotion and havoc occurred as the rabbit's constituents scrambled to get back into their positions.

Normally the noise would've made O'Hare furious, but his mind was elsewhere for the first time.

For the first time, he felt something different.

When he finally found himself on the chair, he pulled tracking screen once again to his face. He began to chuckle lightly.

The ship fell quiet.

He looked up to see the faces of his subordinates staring at him with fear and confusion.

They were unaware of his new condition.

"Could someONE pleeAASE tell me the StAAATUS of our two LOVELY TARGETS?" BlackJack O'Hare psychotically yelled.

There was a silence.

Then a nameless rabbit spoke up.

"W-we-we're detecting movement, C-Captain. Looks like another ship came and left, but there's one life form alone-"

BlackJack stood up, silencing the terrified worker.

He began to laugh loudly and manically, filling the air with an uncomfortable suspense.

His mind raced.

"THE TIME HAS COME, RABBITS."


	5. Mr Blue Sky

**Rocket and the Imp**

 **[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]**

 **Chapter Five – Mr. Blue Sky**

* * *

 **Halfworld – Years Ago**

* * *

The green hills cut the blue sky in half.

Bright green, luscious grass covered the land as far as the eye can see, stopping only at the foot of dense forest. A gentle wind rustled her nose, tickling her whiskers and enticing a small chuckle from her. The otter hadn't remembered the last time she'd been this calm before. Whether it be a delusion, facade, or a slight break before the storm, she cast away all her thoughts and stared vacantly, relaxingly at the blue sky. She was content – but she craved happiness, so she turned to him.

He was already staring at her. The two stupidly smiled in unison, giggling as they lied beside one another. Their day wasn't over, no. It had just begun.

"Jack, could you take off your goggles for a sec?" Lylla asked.

"T-they're sensitive to the light, you know that babe-"

He was interrupted as the yellow otter lumbered atop him, gently straddling him and placing her head over his. The rabbit's head was now shadowed by hers. Her paw slowly slid up the crook of his neck and over his chin, grazing his cheek and sliding his goggles off.

BlackJack looked up at her, blinking a few times before meeting her brown eyes with his blue ones. But they weren't just blue - they were the kind of blue that would glow in the darkest of rooms, the kind of blue that reminded one of a clear summer day, and all the warm feelings attached to one. They were the bright blue eyes that stopped Lylla's heart, engulfed her soul and froze her blood. And they always reminded her of that sunny day when BlackJack told her he loved her.

Rugged, gloved paws found their way to the curve of her back.

"You're my sun." He repeated.

"You're my blue sky." She uttered, her voice trembling.

Lylla tenderly pressed her lips to BlackJack's muzzle.

The rabbit heard the rustling of footsteps.

"Someone's coming." He informed.

"Fuck them." Lylla giggled.

"Fuck me? What'd I do?" A voice cracked.

BlackJack slid his goggles back down over his eyes and turned to see the source of the voice. There, standing just a few feet away, backlit by the intense Halfworld sun, was his best friend. A nameless rabbit of many to any other citizen on the planet – but a lifelong friend of BlackJack's.

"Oh, hey Mark." BlackJack nonchalantly said, gently sliding out from beneath Lylla and standing up.

"Yes. Hey." He began, his voice just as nervous and squeaky as it always was. "We're a bit behind schedule. We need to leave within the next thirty-two-and-a-half minutes or else-"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go." BlackJack exhaled.

Just as he turned to leave, the rabbit found his right arm enclosed by two familiar, soft paws.

"Do you have to-" She started, voice trembling again, although for an entirely different reason this time.

"Let's not get into this again." He nearly whispered.

Lylla slowly lowered her head.

"It's just...things are changing...changing so fast...and-"

BlackJack cut her off with a swift, powerful hug. His muscular arms wrapped around her slender form, nestling his muzzle into her neck.

"It's okay, love."

She fought back tears.

"You'll be back, right?"

"Stop asking me that. You know I will. You know that."

"Promise me, Jack."

BlackJack moved his muzzle to hers, meeting her lips with a fierce, raw passion. After about a minute of sloppy, wet kissing, he pulled back for air.

"I promise."

"It's time to go," Mark said, uncomfortably.

Lylla watched the two walk down the grass fields, disappearing from view. She knew where he was going, what he wanted to do, and fully supported it.

Or so she thought she did. Only now did she realize how much she regretted it, for it was only now when she realized the only thing she wanted was more time to lie beside him under the blue sky.

* * *

 **Prison Planet 412-J3, Sometime Later**

* * *

A round, hooded figure stomped across the harsh desert plains of 412-J3, powerfully making large indents in the thick sand as he traversed to the prison. He gritted his teeth and swished his tail. Soon enough he had made it to the structure in question — a towering building sticking out of a sand dune and painfully reflecting the glare of the planet's many suns.

He pushed open the door and was met with a dreadful excuse for a main lobby – a single room with a single chair, a single other door, and an incredibly small gated window. This place wasn't built with the intention to welcome visitors, for it contained the most despised criminals in the entire galaxy.

A grotesque white flickering light illuminated the stained greenish-gray walls of the lobby. The hoodrd figure went up to the main window, pressing a nearby corroded button. Within a few minutes, someone showed up – a fully armored soldier, one of the thousands that inhabited this establishment.

He said nothing, so the figure spoke up first.

"I'm here to see someone."

"Who?" The guard replied, almost immediately.

"BlackJack O'Hare."

"Your name, sir?"

"Judson Jakes."

A small metal table with two chairs on was all that was in the room. Adoring the walls were no pieces of contemporary art, but massive panes of indestructible glass, and an army of guards on the other end. The 'visiting room', as it was so called, was hardly ever used, so it was with great distaste that the prison guards complied to Judson's demands and arranged for him to have a talk with the rabbit. But they couldn't refuse the mole's generous 'donations'.

Eventually, the two were sat across from another.

For the longest time, they did no more than stare each other down, mentally sizing one another up.

Then the mole spoke.

"I have to commend you for your excellent tracking and hunting abilities, BlackJack. The title of the best bounty hunter in the galaxy isn't one that's just tossed around."

"Who are you?" the rabbit spat.

A long period of silence enveloped the room.

"...what?" Judson growled, the low throaty timbre of his voice nearly causing the metal table to vibrate.

"What do you want?" BlackJack continued.

The mole pulled his hood off, revealing his full face – brown, slightly grayed fur, a long protruding pink snout, and dark brown, almost black, eyes.

"You recognize this face, yes?" He asked, gritting his teeth.

BlackJack shook his head.

The mole brought his large claws to his cranium, his anger now skyrocketing.

"It's only been a few decades, a few decades, a few FUCKING DECADES!"

Judson Jakes threw flipped the table between them at an otherworldly speed, launching it at the indestructible glass and inexplicably causing it to shatter. Soon, guards began rushing in, but not before the mole was able to grab BlackJack by his handcuffs. A team of about five hulking, armored guards poured in, weapons at the ready.

"Sir, put the prisoner down and step away!" A voice said.

BlackJack watched as Judson Jakes turned to the guards, and expelled an intense beam of white energy at them from the palm of his hand, causing them to fly back at a force so great that they'd actually busted through the back wall.

Then Jakes turned to Jack. Emotionless, dead black eyes stared into the red tint of BlackJack's goggles.

"I'm going to make you remember." He growled, voice dripping with evil.

The mole slammed his head into the rabbit's, expelling a large flash of bright white light between the two, and effectively ending BlackJack's stream of consciousness.

It took the mole no more than a few minutes to nonchalantly walk out of the building, as well as bring the whole thing down to a rubble, dust, and dead bodies. As he walked down the sand dunes and traversed the large desert planet, dragging the unconscious rabbit by the handcuffs, he angrily shook his head and clenched his fists, all the while repeating to himself the same five words he'd been growling since he brought down the prison.

"I'll make them all remember."

* * *

 **The Behemoth — Now**

* * *

He wasn't surprised that BlackJack didn't recognize him. He'd suspected he wouldn't. His old contacts told him so. But it was still a little heartbreaking to see one's best friend treat them as if they were a stranger.

And in this strange situation, Mark was also surrounded by friends he'd known from a past life – rabbits of many now working under the legion of their overlord, Judson Jakes. But they were all mere strangers to him as well.

Almost just as confusing as the timeline of his memories, were the hallways of BlackJack's ship. Mark had been walking down dimly lit passages for thirty minutes now. Each soft, padded footstep he made seemed to echo and reverb just as loud as cymbals crashing the floor.

A heart races to a deathly beat when one isn't where they should be, and Mark was on the restricted floor of the ship, looking for BlackJack's office. The already timid rabbit's heart was thumping out of his chest.

The gentle vibration from his PDA jump-scared him, making him slam into the wall on his left. Angrily, he pulled it from his pocket and checked it. It was from an old friend, inquiring about a status update. Mark shrugged it off, thinking it could wait. He slowly pushed open the door to the last room in the hallway, and sure enough, it was BlackJack's. Or the room of a paranoid schizophrenic.

 _"Same thing, technically."_

Notebook papers containing inconceivable scribbles written in ink and blood were scattered across the floor in an impossible quantity. The rabbit's curiosity led him to pick one up.

The paper was covered with the words of Judson Jakes written thousands of times.

 _"Former glory?"_

The ceiling light only illuminated the center of the room, causing the walls to be clouded in darkness and making the room seem endless.

Mark had an particularly uneasy feeling. It wasn't that he was now witnessing the final state of his best friend's descent into madness, nor was it the reminder that Jack had been tortured and brainwashed by a disillusioned monster. He had the feeling he was being watched.

He quickly turned to see BlackJack in the doorway.

The glow of red eyes made Mark's blood run cold.

"H-hey-" He uttered.

The red-eyed rabbit charged at his former friend.

Before he could even perceive the attack, Mark was on his back, being punched in the face multiple times. Again and again, waves of sharp pain spiked through his head, equivalent of a ton of bricks being slamming repeatedly into his jaw. Mark's teeth cut into his own mouth in multiple places, and in the same places more than once, spewing blood from his lips.

Mark kicked BlackJack in the abdomen with all the force he could muster, slowly staggering to get up. In between terrified, frantic breaths, he managed to project his voice louder than he'd ever had before.

"Jack! Buddy! You gotta remember me! Please!"

BlackJack slowly stood up, and began to walk towards Mark.

"Please...Jack..."

The rabbit stopped in his tracks.

He remained motionless for a while.

Mark could think of nothing else to do. He walked over to his best friend, and fell against him, wrapping his arms around the rabbit in a desperate hug.

"Jack...you're still in there...you gotta be..." He whimpered, tears falling down his face.

The rabbit pulled his head back and stared into BlackJack's goggles. The red lighted lenses were nearly blinding at that close of a range. Paws trembling, Mark moved his hand up to the lenses, pushing them up.

Mark immediately regretted this.

His best friend's eyes were blackened, cracked with dried blood, receded and sunken into his skull.

He saw no blue sky.

Mark stepped back, feeling sick to his stomach.

BlackJack still did not move.

The shaking rabbit stepped away and pulled out his communication device. He selected his number one contact. The phone line began to ring, as Mark stepped away into the direction of the doorway.

A click.

"Hello?" A familiar voice said.

"Lylla! M-Mark here...uh..."

Mark's voice was stuck in his throat.

"It's...it's worse than we thought." He started, his voice a cracked sob. "So much worse. We need help. We need them, we need Rocket and Captain Sa-"

He didn't get to finish.

BlackJack stabbed him through the throat with a serrated dagger.

Mark fell forward, clutching his neck as it gushed the crimson substance through his fingers. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he fell to his knees, watching BlackJack walk over to him and crouch down to meet his eye level.

He brought his knife up again and viciously stabbed Mark's throat once more, spearing the knife through his Mark's hand and pinning it to his own neck. In utter and complete terror, his life began to fade and his vision was gradually reduced to darkness.

BlackJack saw Mark's life fading away, and acted quickly. He unsheathed his razor-sharp claws and proceeded to gouge out Mark's eyes. The rabbit tried to scream, but it was reduced to a grim moan submerged in blood, and the last thing he heard was the brainwashed rantings of an utterly insane rabbit.

"I REMEMBER! I KNOW THE SECRET! YOU CAN'T TAKE IT FROM ME! YOU CAN'T TAKE IT FROM ME!"

The rabbit violently shook as he screamed.

"YOU!"

One eyeball clawed out and thrown aside.

"WON'T!"

Another.

"TAKE IT!"

And then BlackJack pulled his knife out of his friend's hand and throat.

An satisfied grin spread across his face.

Covered in blood, he picked up his goggles and placed them back over his eyes. He then ran out of his room, down the massive halls and to the ship's bridge, where he powered everything on and reverting the ship's controls from idle mode. With no hesitation, he slammed the Behemoth's thrusters to full speed.

Within a few minutes, the rest of the crew was rustled from their sleep by the sudden movement of the ship and reported to the main controls to see the commotion.

BlackJack turned to them, his goggled, glowing gaze nearly illuminating all of their tired faces.

"MoooOOORINING, RABBITS! THE TIME IS NOW AND THE TIME isss rriiGHT! WE'RE LEAVING NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!"

He turned back to the ship's main viewport, watching as stars zoomed past. There, in the far off distance was a mere speck – the location that would change everything.

* * *

 **Sale's Ship**

* * *

The female raccoon sat at the foot of her bed, staring down into her paws.

The dim, yellow fluorescent lights above her lit up and shimmered off the curved metal band she held. There, illuminated and sparkling, were the imprints of a seemingly random series of numbers and letters. Eight, Nine, P, One, Three. Nothing more than an identification for a some disposable lab rat. Sale kept staring at those few characters. The dents in the metal, the scratches, and damage all painted a picture of his origins. His painful and tragic early life.

And she couldn't help but feel it mirrored hers.

Although different in specifics, overall they shared the same concepts. Both abandoned and alone. Both treated like nothing but vermin their whole lives. Both fighting for good...mostly...in a galaxy full of bad. As her thoughts raced in circles, the final realization struck her again like cold daggers into her heart.

She was alone again.

How enthralling, that in over the course of a few incredibly short days, she'd managed to find the one thing she needed more than anything else in the entire world, and lose him just days later. Granted she knew she'd see him again, but a part of her couldn't help but pessimistically speculate.

 _"What if he never comes back? What if something terrible happens on his mission? What if...he dies...and I didn't get to tell him how much I...H-how much I..."_

Clutching her eyes shut, her paws balled into fists. Her heart quivered and the tears threatened to fall, but she fought back.

 _"No,"_ She reminded herself. _"Don't be weak."_

Her emotions neutralized, and a pleasant thought came into her head. The one thing that had recently always made her spirits lift.

Him.

 _"That annoying, sexy smug grin of his...his big stupid strong arms...his alluring, deep, dark, brown eyes..."_

A small smile formed on her muzzle. It was working.

 _"The way he always stares at me – looking on as if I'm some sort of goddess...The way he treated me – with respect and admiration the likes of which I've never experienced...and the way he kissed me – with his rich, smooth, slick tongue being the best thing I've ever fucking tasted in my life."_

It definitely worked. She was now blushing.

Although separated from her lover for less than a day, she'd already had a whole lot planned for him when they'd see each other again.

She continued this stream of thought, blissfully reminiscing about her and Rocket's short time together whilst her mood, and heartbeat, rose gradually. Sale considering lying down and giving sleep another try, when a loud, foreign noise interrupted her train of thought.

A deafeningly loud hissing sound boomed from just outside her ship, piercingly high in pitch and utterly painful to the raccoon's sensitive ears. At the same time, she felt the ship begin to shift and vibrate. Shoving Rocket's armband into her pocket, she stepped out of her room to investigate.

A bright stream of green light poured through each window on her ship, filling the interior with the sickening hue. Her blood ran cold as she soon realized what was taking place.

 _"A Neutral Stasis Beam. I'm...I'm about to be boarded."_

Sale began to feel her ship rumble and shake. She'd immediately dashed to her room, ramming past the door and locating her closet. There, she pulled out one of her most trusted allies – her Laser Cannon. Grabbing it, she ran into the ship's cargo bay, as she suspected that's where they would breach.

The female raccoon hid behind a large crate, steadily breathing and waiting. Sure enough, Sale heard the cargo door of the ship began to creak and break open.

The noise of loud, brash metal burning and bending harshly reverberated in her ears, and she began to hear the pitter-patter of dozens of pawed feet bustling into her ship. She bit her tongue and held her breath, waiting for just the right time to strike.

Then, silence.

Sale slowly peeked around the corner, spotting seven rabbits, standing neatly in a line, blankly staring around at the ship. She quickly began thinking of ways to neutralize them all, when a loud crash had interrupted her train of thought.

A larger, distinct rabbit had come into the room, knocking over several supply crates. She couldn't place it, but she was sure she'd seen him before. Tossing the thought aside, Sale assessed the threat.

Rabbit. Male. Medium Build. Possible Cybernetic Augmentations. Clearly crazed-

Then he saw her.

Then he charged at her.

Sale had little time to react as she witnessed the red-eyed rabbit come sprinting towards her, claws brandished and sporting a wicked, unnatural grin. Immediately, she emerged from her hiding spot and began firing her rifle.

Loud and rapid gunshots echoed throughout the steel box of a room, lighting up the entirety of it with an orange flash every second. The first shot was accurate, cutting off large chunk of his left ear. The second and third missed completely, as the kickback threw her aim off greatly. She didn't have time to fire another few, as the rabbit leapt and slammed her gun down to the ground.

He then viciously slapped his paw against her face, claws digging into the flesh of her cheek, spraying a small amount of blood. The forceful impact caused her to lose balance and nearly fall over. The rabbit used her momentary disorientation to his advantage, shoving her down and pinning her against the ground. Catching her breath and getting a moment to think, she acted before the rabbit could. Using the strength from her thick, muscled legs, she threw a powerful kick into the center of his chest, effectively knocking him backwards.

The rabbit angrily stood up, whipping around and preparing to leap again. However, just when he was about to do so, a loud, crackling sound came from across the room. Sale and the rabbit turned to see a large form materialize from a field of blinding white energy.

A large, round shape emerged from some sort of portal, stepping into the dim light and being revealed to be a hefty mole wearing a glowing red robe. Sale was sure she'd seen him before, too.

"O'HARE!" He shouted. His voice was rich and timbre, low and thunderous.

The female raccoon turned to follow the mole's line of sight, soon learning that the goggled red-eyed rabbit was this 'O'Hare' that was being addressed.

She watched him grow terrified upon seeing the mole. He nearly jumped in shock, and shrunk down in posture. Gazing at his feet, the rabbit nervously greeted his apparent ally.

"M-Master Jakes. I didn't realize you were-"

"What the were you thinking? Did I authorize you to kill 91P15?!" The mole yelled.

"No, no you didn't, Master Jakes. But-"

O'Hare was silenced with a vicious slap to the face. Jakes crouched lower and leaned into the rabbit's face.

"What if I hadn't shown up when I did, and the location of the Halfworld Book died with her?! Then what?" He snarled.

Sale froze.

"The book..." she whispered.

Jakes heard, however, quickly whipping around and invading her personal space as well.

"Yes! The book! Now do you want to tell me where it is, or would you like to go about this matter in a most unpleasant way?" He uttered creepily.

Sale stared him down, her face unflinching and expression defiant.

Although giving off a stern expression, she was undoubtedly frightened of this individual before her. The raccoon had never seen anything like what he'd accomplished – the inexplicable portal, and the overall vibe that this beast, this mystical mole, could see right into her soul. It was as if he knew her deepest secrets and thoughts. He was otherworldly, and had the presence of a supernatural being. Assessing her situation, she had no doubts that she could take down O'Hare, and just about any of his worthless henchmen, all on her own. But she wasn't willing to take any chances with the mole. Especially since she had this odd feeling that he had sinister ulterior motives, and was curious to know what they could be.

"So that's the route we're taking...O'HARE! CUFF HER."

Before she could protest, BlackJack was behind her, forcefully pulling her arms back and binding them with what she could only surmise as some particle-field handcuffs. She angrily stared at him, finding his deep black eyes to be incredibly frightening, seemingly soulless. But she didn't let him see any of her fear, putting forth her best mask.

With a chuckle, the mole turned to the rest of the rabbits.

"SEARCH THE SHIP!" He commanded. "WE'RE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT THE BOOK!"

And so they did.

While Jakes and Sale were engaged in a stare-down, BlackJack and the other rabbits took to tearing apart the raccoon's ship. They left no stone unturned, making a complete mess of everything that wasn't bolted down. It didn't take them long to find it, and soon a nameless rabbit brought his findings to the mole.

"Here-...Here you go, Master Jakes," he said, lifting up the Halfworld Book along with some papers. "These look like...translations."

Judson grabbed them angrily, utter shock written across his face. He looked from the book, to the stack of papers, flipping through both quickly. After about a minute of this, Jakes throws them at the rabbit nearby him.

"LOCK ALL OF IT AWAY!" He ordered.

Just as fast as his mood had made a complete one-eighty-degree turn, Sale found herself being quickly lifted up by her shoulders by Jakes and brought just inches away from his face. It took everything in her to not display how disturbed she was upon being forced to view the mole at this close. His pitch-black eyes somehow glinted a blood red, and his brow was extremely furrowed.

" How." He growled, furiously.

Sale remained silent.

Jakes used his long, razor sharp claws to dig into the flesh of her arms. The slices were deep, and the effect was immediate. But she bit her tongue, suppressing a cry of pain, fueling her stare with more anger and contempt.

"I'll ask you again. How?"

"How - what?" Sale spat.

"THE BOOK. HOW'D YOU DECODE IT?!" He shouted, and being this close to the raccoon, it was nearly deafening.

"With my brain, you asshole."

"You. Are. LYING! Halfworld Hieroglyphs are unreadable- it's a DEAD LANGUAGE!"

"I read it...just fine. Stop fucking yelling, your breath is so bad, like holy shit-"

"ENOUGH! So you can read and understand the texts? You and you alone?"

"Yes. Me and me alone."

"Well...you had better be telling the truth."

He smirked.

"Your life depends on it."


	6. Come And Get Your Love

**Rocket and the Imp**

 **[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]**

 **Chapter Six – Come and Get Your Love**

* * *

Rocket's mission with the Guardian went down without a hitch, and despite all of the circumstances, and they'd successfully defended the Sovereign's Anulax Batteries from a the inter-dimensional Abilisk. Much of the smooth success was thanks to Rocket being abnormally vigilant and focused this time around. Post-mission, the raccoon had spent the whole weekend with his old friends, sharing stories and catching up. He received quite the earful from Star-Lord and Drax after he'd been prodded and pressured into revealing more about his 'new girlfriend.' Alas, after the celebrations were over, Rocket requested a drop-off at Knowhere, rather than lead them all to Sale's ship. He just wasn't ready for that.

So there he was, walking around the same planet he'd been drunk and depressed on earlier. The bright, flashy neon lights illuminated him as he vacantly wandered, wondering what his next move would be. The first thing he did once he had the opportunity was bombard Sale with messages and calls. He must have sent over a hundred texts at this point, and attempted well over a few dozen calls, all unanswered. The poor raccoon was beyond worried now and felt a chilling loneliness drench over him like never before. The weariness and the sorrow mixed with his fear and anger, causing him to grind his teeth and clench his fists as he walked along the streets of Knowhere.

He continued on, making his way to the alleyway in which they had first met, and then walking to the restaurant in which they'd first gotten to know one another.

The scenery was the same, a ghostly abandoned part of town with alien vegetation growing in the most unnatural of places. Paying no mind to the scenery around him, Rocket trudged to the unassuming shack, vacantly shoving open the door and stepping inside. He let out a deep sigh, one out of pure emotional exhaustion.

Against his own will, he couldn't help but reminisce about the time they shared here together. The pleasant memories brought forth pain that hit him like a dozen ice-daggers plunging into his heart. A paw found itself onto the main counter for support, as the mental whirlwind began to take a real toll on him.

Then, a dim blue light caught his eye. There, on the counter, was the button that Sale used to summon her own creation. Not giving any second thoughts, Rocket pressed it, and within seconds a mechanical whir began to echo from opposite the restaurant.

A large, robotic figure moved out of the shadows, slowly making its way towards Rocket.

Rocket felt weaker than he'd ever felt before - a part of his own consciousness scolding himself for it. His lower lip trembled as he spoke.

"Hey. Andy...was it?"

No response.

"Yeah, I'm...You wouldn't happen to know where Sale's run off to, would you, Andy?"

Andy neutrally stared at him, his glowing blue eyes vibrantly illuminating the raccoon's deceptively happy face.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't be as worried as I am, she's probably fine."

Again, no response.

"She's...probably...fine-I just think it's a bit strange that she hasn't answered me, is all. I'm just..."

His breath caught his throat and he coughed a bit.

"I...just..."

Andy's bright blue eyes were beginning to grow painful to stare at. He started into the idle blue eyes. The silence of the building drove him insane, further fueling his loneliness.

"I just miss her so fucking much, Andy."

And as the tears began to fall, Rocket left the establishment. He took to the rooftops that he'd chased after her upon. He'd progressed from idly climbing and walking to an all-out sprint- running as fast as he could and exerting himself as much as possible.

His heart threatened to quit on him, so pausing to catch his breath, he stopped and looked over the edge of the building. An odd sense of deja-vu washed over him. This is where they argued. He curiously looked back, and down, and there it was.

Sale's mask.

Rocket ran to pick it up, gently holding it in his paws. He brushed his digits over the smooth metal and flipped it over. Slowly, he inched his head forward into the inside of the mask, inhaling deeply. It smelled like her.

A stupid smile instantly spread across his muzzle.

* * *

Rocket could recall following Sale out of her apartment that first time, and used this knowledge to find his way back into her hideout. He picked the lock on the door, making a mental note to apologize later.

Stepping inside, he looked around at the state of the place. It was just as he remembered it. A modest apartment with sparse furnishings. He made his way over to that familiar hallway, and into that same room in which he'd first seen her unmasked. All the lights were off, but his night-vision allowed him to see a shape in the shadows.

His lovesick heart impeded his judgment.

"Sale?" He croaked.

The figure stepped closer, into the light.

It wasn't Sale, but...an otter.

Rocket quickly pulled his Laser Cannon from over his shoulder, aiming it directly at the unknown assailant.

"Who are you?! What are you doing here?! Where's Sale?!" His voice boomed, and with each inquiry, he grew more frantic and desperate.

The otter raised a paw and blinked slowly. Rocket eyed her – she was about his height, sleek and slender, dressed in very elaborate purple armor. Her fur was a light yellow, and her eyes were a dark brown. They were somewhat weary- and it appeared she'd just cleaned a large amount of blood off of her lower neck. It was obvious she wasn't someone to be trifled with.

An odd feeling washed over him.

"Have...I met you before?"

She stepped closer to him, and Rocket lifted his gun higher, threateningly.

"In another life, yes you have, Rocket." She spoke slowly, somewhat mystically.

"How...do you know my name?"

"I've no doubt your head must be filled with questions, but I am going to need you to listen to my piece first."

Rocket blinked.

"Well...well go ahead."

The otter gently cleared her throat.

"There was a world...a world we once inhabited long ago. How it came to be, how we came to be – that's another, intricate story. I just need you to understand that you...you were a part of something big, Rocket. And now, your old associates- Your old friends, they're in danger. Things have grown terribly worse at a f-frightening rate, and I fear Judson may be close to achieving his goal. I..."

She stopped, turning to stare at him.

His face was as confused as confused can be.

"How much do you remember?" She asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! Who is Judson?! And what does this have to do with Sale?!"

The otter sighed, stepping closer to the raccoon.

"Judson comes from our old world. He's...he's harnessed the power of the Halfworld book, and...he's using it to...bring us back."

"...why?"

"Well...we suspect that he's capable of...taking people over. Controlling them.. That's...that's what happened to my-...to BlackJack O'Hare."

The otter's voice cracked at the last part. Rocket could sense some sadness in her voice, but was completely overrun with confusion and a powerful sense of deja-vu.

"That...that name...I think he was, he had red goggles, right?"

"Yes."

"And he had that light blue fur, right?..."

"Yes, yes he did. Keep going, try to remember."

Rocket squinted, searching deep into his memories, following one lead to another, dusting off the metaphorical cobwebs and focusing on things he never knew were there. He turned to her, a look of realization hitting him.

"I was his partner...his friend."

The otter smiled.

"You were."

Rocket dropped his gun and pulled up a chair to sit in. He cradled his head in his hands.

"This is...I don't understand...how long ago was this?"

"In the grand scheme of things, it was not that long ago."

"W-why...how...how'd I forget?"

"It's complicated."

"What-what's this got to do with Sale?"

"Well, if BlackJack...if he's been...corrupted..."

She fought back tears. Rocket stood up, stepping closer to her. He barely knew this otter, well, apparently he used to but, he felt just a bit uncomfortable around her, just as he would any stranger. Nonetheless, he gently placed a paw on her shoulder.

"Corrupted...how? Like..."

"He's...he's gone. He's empty. He's a slave and he'll do whatever Judson wants."

Rocket stood back.

"Like what?"

She avoided his eyes.

"Lylla!"

"I came here because, they got her. They got Sale."

"Th-...WHAT?! Has...no...has she been-" Rocket stammered.

The otter let out a shaky exhale.

"Has she been corrupted?!" He barked.

"I don't know! It's unlikely, I think it takes time."

The raccoon looked around, his breaths growing frantic.

Lylla stepped closer to him, offering out her paw.

"I can take you to her. That's why I came. I need your help, just as you need mine."

Rocket looked up at her, then to her paw, indicating a handshake request.

With no hesitation, he took her hand with a fierce grip.

Murder darkened Rocket Raccoon's eyes.

"Let's go."

* * *

The voyage to the Keystone Quadrant was long and arduous, but it allowed for Rocket and Lylla to become more familiar with each other's predicaments. As Lylla told the raccoon more about her life and what had led up to this point, he found that his own memories had begun to gradually come back to him. It wasn't long after this when finally, all the pieces had come together, and the full picture was revealed.

It all started hundreds of years ago.

Rouge alien scientists, chased away by federations that found their actions unlawful and abhorrent, had found refuge on the secluded, distant planet of Halfworld. Away from the prying eyes of the rest of the galaxy, they resumed their sick, twisted research. The rouge aliens had obtained samples from every planet, tested and experimented on them all for reasons unknown. One thing is for certain – they weren't at this for very long.

A force of some sort, had eliminated them all. And just like that, the subjects – the animals, were free. This event would be the earliest that they could pinpoint, and credited as the beginning of their stream of consciousness.

Rocket, Lylla, BlackJack O'Hare, Mark, Judson Jakes, Sale, and thousands of others lived in harmony on Halfworld. For the longest time, it was nothing more than a quaint, primitive town on the small planet. Centuries passed, and they found the cybernetic enhancements and augmentations they'd received allowed them to sustain considerable damage and seemingly live forever. As their technology advanced and time passed, the lust for exploration grew, and the leaders of Halfworld longed to see what lie beyond the Keystone Quadrant.

And all within a few years after these discoveries, all the animals had left. They'd moved on, and forgotten their old lives.

The Legends of Halfworld were paramount in kid's tales all throughout the Galaxy. Stories told of a book that contained the secrets for limitless power, written by the very same being that freed all the animals all those years ago.

"I tell you, Sale and I read the first few pages of that, and I don't feel any more powerful." Rocket spat, rolling his eyes.

"Well, what was it?" Lylla questioned, sitting across from him, in the co-pilot's seat.

"It-...It didn't make sense...I don't know. It was like...even after we pieced everything together, it was still as if we were reading someone's crazy, incoherent thoughts."

"Thoughts of what?"

Rocket hesitated.

"Control."

An unnerving silence washed over the two, drowned out by the white noise of the speeding ship.

Knowhere was on the far edge of the charted galaxy, and Halfworld was on the exact opposite end. Luckily, Lylla's ship was equipped with warping technologies, but even going as fast as they could, it still took almost an entire day before the raccoon had spotted the planet they'd abandoned all those years ago.

"Lylla," Rocket whispered, nudging the otter's shoulder.

The yellow mammal grunted, slowly opening her eyes.

"What-.." She groaned.

"We're here." Rocket said with a smile.

She shot up and turned to look out the front of the ship.

It was just as amazing as it ever was.

An inconceivable burning yellow ring, bigger than any sun Rocket's ever seen – and within it, at another angle, a cool blue ring, and in the center of it all – the small blue marble that was Halfworld. Memories of seeing this planet shrink in the mirrors of his ship came to him, contrasting with the bittersweet reality that he was truly, finally, going back.

"Welcome home, Rocket." He muttered, sarcastically.

They continued onward.

Lylla navigated the ship to the coordinates that Mark had sent her. It was information that the rabbit had acquired through a long and arduous undercover mission, wherein he learned that this whole operation was much bigger than any of them had expected.

"Fuck, this isn't where the lab was, is it?" Rocket asked.

Lylla nodded.

As they broke through the atmosphere, details emerged and it became apparent that something was wrong.

Very wrong.

There was no grass. There was no water.

This planet had been abandoned and neglected beyond any hope of recovery.

And above all, quite literally, a behemoth of a structure stood.

The Lab. The only thing on the plane that seemed to not be falling apart, restored and inhabited by Judson Jakes and his minions.

Rocket and Lylla felt a collective chill upon flying closer.

"Y-you should uh, take us behind that hill, over there." Rocket stammered, still a bit speechless upon seeing the intimidating structure that no doubt held Sale.

Lylla maneuvered the small spacecraft out of the line of sight from any watch guards near or around the building, and gently landed it in a patch of dead grass on the other end of a rocky hill. The two quickly hopped out of the ship and climbed to the top of the hill, keeping low to the ground.

Lylla looked over at Rocket, as he eyed and inspected the building, no doubt formulating a plan within that thick skull of his. She decided to tease him to ease some of the unrelenting tension.

"Don't think too hard, Rocket, you'll hurt yourself."

He giggled.

"Shh. I'm comin' up with a plan."

"You telling me you don't wanna crash our ship here into the building all heroically and shit? Seems to work pretty well for you."

"Haha. Bitch. No."

The two silently chuckled with one another.

Then Rocket quickly bumped her shoulder.

"Look. There!" Rocket whisper-yelled, pointing at a structure on the side of the building.

Lylla followed the raccoon's digit, to the location he was referring to.

"You can't be serious." Lylla deadpanned.

"Well, do you have a better idea?" Rocket fired back, a little agitated.

Lylla loudly exhaled, before replying.

"...damn it."

* * *

The full range of Judson Jake's powers was unknown.

The female raccoon had put up one hell of a fight, but it was all to no avail. With a mere wave of his claws, he was able to send a stream of painful, agonizing, dark energy at Sale, thus immobilizing her and making it possible for her to be imprisoned in her cell.

Sale woke up on a cold concrete floor, looking around to find absolutely nothing else in the small room but a massive steel door. It was heavily armored and undoubtedly locked.

As she collected her thoughts, she began to understand the weight of her current predicament.

 _"Was this his plan all along? To lock me up as bait for Rocket? I ain't no fuckin' bait!"_

Filled with rage and fury, she angrily kicked the steel door, accomplishing nothing but a loud sound and a sharp pain in her foot. After catching her breath, a word floated back in her head.

 _"Rocket..."_ She thought.

Sale hadn't seen him in about two weeks, and she spent the next few hours running through a whirlwind of thoughts about him, always coming to that jarring conclusion.

 _"Am I thinking that we were more than we actually were?"_

Her breath caught in her throat again.

 _"Does he..love me?"_

She sat down, dropping her head onto her knees.

 _"What if...he doesn't come back for me?"_

Then...silence.

Her mind went blank, and as she sat there with her eyes shut... a memory came to her.

 _Sale's body tensed and shuddered, her claws sinking deeper into the flesh of Rocket's back, drawing out slight amounts of blood. His strong arms had her in a vice-like grip, and she was nearly crushed as he tightened his grasp. He grunted in her ear, and his voice cracked as he moaned in utter ecstasy. Then, as their brains performed a full reboot, they climaxed. Minutes passed where nothing had occurred but panting. The sound of their heavy, labored breaths filled the air. Rocket shivered as he removed his head from being buried in Sale's shoulder, and lifted it to rest in front of her. After a few breaths, Sale came down her euphoric high and slowly opened her eyes. Her line of sight focused on where their bodies connected, then slowly traveled up to his torso. His brawny chest contracted and expanded with his deep breaths, his pectorals glistening with sweat. She looked up a bit more and finally met his gaze. Rocket's eyes burned with something she'd never seen before. The deep brown orbs were slightly illuminated, even in the dim light of the room, and he stared at her as if she was an absolute miracle. He stared at her with a hunger, a lust, an instinctual, primal desire. He stared at her with the utmost admiration and...true, unbreaking love. The realization set a fire within her heart and enveloped her with a deeply comforting and unfamiliar warmth. It was intensely exciting. She nervously laughed in utter bliss and disbelief._

Her eyes shot open. A sense of purpose, determination, and motivation filled her.

 _"Of fucking course he will."_

Sale smiled and shot up from her feet. The raccoon paced around the small room, looking for anything and everything that could aid her in an escape. She continued this for an hour, running through every possible escape option, but coming up empty. She nearly lost hope, but then, a revelation popped into her head, and a plan began to form.

 _"But I don't have to wait for him,"_ She said with a smile.

* * *

Halfworld's climate had been always been temperate. It was the kind of weather that one would find on the most popular vacationing planets in the galaxy. Warm, sunny days took up most of the year.

This would be ideal for Rocket and Lylla, if the two weren't crawling through a cramped, confined metal vent.

The sight of the building had reminded the them that Judson's operations were on a larger scale than they could've ever anticipated. The villainous mole had clearly owned an extensive amount of resources. With an army at his side and otherworldly powers at his fingertips, Judson Jakes was able to rebuild the abandoned alien lab that created them, bigger than it ever was before.

The towering structure had included a central air conditioning system with vents that ran all throughout the building, supplying every lab, room, and office with heated or cooled air. It was this system that Rocket had spotted from the hill, and had come up with the idea to use the vents to sneak inside the building, undetected. After stealthily maneuvering around the patrol rabbits, the two broke into an exhaust vent and began the arduous process of climbing through the building.

So there they were, crawling through the narrow passages. Eventually, they came up to a small opening. Sitting side by side, they stared down through the vent grate to see an army of armored rabbits, marching down the halls in perfect unison. After exchanging a meaningful glance – the facial expression equivalent of saying, _"Holy shit, we might be fucked"_ – they continued down the vent, leading further into the belly of the beast, as it were.

The two were led down to several dead ends, or to vents that had openings into rooms filled with mindless rabbit goons. At one point, the two had crawled into a four-way split crossroads of the narrow metal passages.

They tried the first vent. After a long, arduous trek, it was revealed to inexplicably end with a grate to the outside. They headed back and tried the second vent. It was longer, and once again led to a dead end. Rocket, at this point, was understandably stressed and tired. Upon realizing he'd have to go all the way back, he balled his paws into fists and brought them to his head tightly gripping the fur over his brow.

"Fuck!" He whisper-yelled, still remaining cautious.

He took a seat up against the vent, letting out an aggravated sigh. Lylla joined, sitting close beside him.

"Nice plan, Rocket." She teased.

After a chuckle and a few labored breaths, he replied.

"We...just gotta find her."

"Well, we know the next vent's gotta lead to something. Let's try our luck there."

"Yeah. Just lemme sit here for a while."

The vents weren't soundproof at all, and the two were sure to remain as quiet as they could during the entire time they'd been in there.

Because of this, they were easily able to clearly hear the noises emanating from throughout the laboratory.

And they were incredibly disheartening, to say the least.

Loud, mechanical screeches, drilling, robotic slicing – along with the screams of the unknown. A long, awkward pause stretched between the two, as Rocket once again took notice of this. Lylla looked over the distressed raccoon and tried to make conversation.

"It's cold in here."

He didn't answer.

More awkward silence.

Lylla sighed.

"Rocket. We're strong, we've been through a lot worse. Even if you don't remember it."

He turned and smiled at her, even if it was forced, his facade made him feel a little better.

"I bet we have."

A little more time passed, as the two sat there. Lylla's train of thought took a dark turn after that.

"But, our memories, they're fickle."

The otter cleared her throat.

"I'm scared that if BlackJack doesn't remember me now, he will never remember me again."

"He will." Rocket reassured.

"I hope so."

The sinister, horrible sounds of the building became audible once again, and the raccoon was overrun with similar, terrible thoughts.

 _"What if Sale doesn't remember?"_

A surge of anger and realization hit him, and he tried his best to contain himself as to not flip out and reveal their position to the other rabbits. Instead, he breathed a little bit harder and gripped his head tightly.

"It's my fault." He groaned.

Lylla turned to him, giving him a look of concern.

"What?" She said softly.

"It's my fucking fault, it really is. Sale would've been fine if she never met me. If I didn't...fuck up and end up on that goddamn shithole of a planet."

Lylla said nothing but solemnly gazed at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I don't know, I just got bored. I wanted more! I-I...was selfish, and stupid."

Rocket looked at Lylla, presumably looking into her eyes for some sort of confirmation of his self-depreciation. Her soft, brown, alluring, feminine eyes tenderly comforted him.

"I just felt so alone and...she's...she's so nice..."

Rocket was sniffling now.

The otter reached over, placing a paw on his shoulder.

He immediately turned to face her.

"I just miss her so much, Lylla."

She immediately leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in tightly for a warm embrace. Rocket gripped her shoulders, resting his head up into her neck. The two hugged each other tightly, finding comfort in one another's embrace in the face of an unknowable danger.

After a few minutes of this, the raccoon broke the hug and met her eyes.

"She's here, Rocket."

He wiped off his eyes and flashed an awkward smile.

"Yeah, I know. We...we should get moving."

Minutes later, they continued navigating through the tight vent, going back to the crossroads and taking the last path. This metal passage was the shortest of all, immediately leading into a downward-facing vent grate.

Rocket leaned down, peeking through the grate and scanning the room for any sign of movement. There was none. After a look of confirmation from Lylla, Rocket grabbed the grate, pulling it from its place and setting it beside him.

Rocket and Lylla cautiously stepped down into the dark storage room. The raccoon felt around the walls for a light switch, stumbling over boxes and bumping into file cabinets. He'd slammed his hip into a particularly sharp table and let out an expletive when Lylla had flicked the lights on.

He regained his composure and vision, standing up to meet Lylla's eyes with an awkward smile. She had a look of shock and discovery in her eyes. The otter roughly brushed past him, running over to the file cabinet behind him. Her lean arms frantically pulled it open and began sifting through the folder's contents.

Rocket looked over and saw that the cabinet in question was labeled: O'Hare.

He made his way over to her, approaching cautiously as she was visibly shaking. Within the folders contained mostly documents, warrants, newspapers, pretty much anything that had anything to do with her lost love, Blackjack O'Hare. This must've been where Judson Jakes kept his research. Lylla pulled open another folder and let out a soft gasp.

Rocket peered over her shoulder and saw tears beginning to form in her eyes, then looked back over to the folder. There were photos.

Photos from another life. Long ago.

Her shaking paws lifted one after the other, staring at each one with a bittersweet fondness.

Lylla and BlackJack standing beside a tree in a grass field, staring endearingly at one another.

Rocket, Lylla, and BlackJack laughing together, at a cards table.

Rocket and BlackJack mugshots, visibly smirking at each other.

Lylla and BlackJack's wedding photo.

She choked out a brief sob.

"Lylla."

She noticed him standing there, quickly composing herself and taking that last photo into her hands, shoving it into her pockets and wiping her eyes.

"Sorry, let's go."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Alright, then."

They stepped out of the room, cautiously looking down both directions of the corridor before stepping out into the thin, dark, hospital-like hallways. The walls, ceilings, and floors were no more than large slabs of rough concrete. Unpainted, the whole interior of the building was incredibly unsettling.

Inexplicably, this part of the building was very silent.

Unbearably, deafeningly silent.

Rocket and Lylla continued down the hallway, turning the corner and stopping dead in their tracks.

Standing at the far end was a rabbit, wielding a bloody, dripping knife.

His chilling red eyes illuminated the entire hallway.

Rocket retrieved his pocket-dimension storage vial from his pocket, and materialized his laser cannon in one quick motion. Rifle in hand, he held his ground, and with a fierce stare of his own, met its gaze.

Then the realization hit him.

"BlackJack?" He asked.

The rabbit began approaching them.

The raccoon raised his gun threateningly.

Rocket didn't want to hurt him, but he had no idea what BlackJack was capable of.

"Old...Friend..." the gangling-looking hare rasped.

He stopped in his tracks and dropped his dagger in the blink of an eye, hunched over and frozen.

Lylla's breath caught in her throat, as she began to approach him.

"Jack..." She whispered.

The otter approached the rabbit. She found his new appearance to be...disheartening. His fur wasn't the brilliant blue it used to be, and it was unkempt. His attire was put together with no rhyme or reason, and his goggles seemed to engulf him. Lylla approached closer and offered a paw out to him, just as the rabbit snarled, falling onto all fours and charging at the two.


	7. Bad Moon Rising

**Rocket and the Imp**

 **Chapter Seven – Bad Moon Rising**

* * *

The detaining procedures applied by Judson's rabbits were not unlike any other prison's – riddled with faults. Sure they frisked her, confiscated all of her weaponry, and locked her in a dark cell with thick walls of cement and a hack-proof steel door – but Sale the Raccoon was a survivor.

And she had a plan.

Her heightened sense of smell and hearing led her to believe that just underneath the cement flooring was an array of wires, power supplies, and possibly a vent. So, with no hesitation, she unsheathed her claws and began to dig into the ground. The cybernetic implants within the raccoon granted her enhanced strength and durability, and allowed her to withstand a tremendous deal of damage. The sheer toughness of the ground would've wore away her claws within minutes, but she'd made the effort of reinforcing her claws with some very rare and expensive Vibranium she'd picked up from a criminal on Knowhere.

It didn't take long for the ground to give way, and reveal an assortment of metal pipes and wires, but no vent.

She exhaled through her nose, bringing a paw to her chin.

Her original plan was to find a vent to escape through, but upon the discovery, and Rocket still on her mind, she formulated a new plan in seconds.

"Oh, now this just might be a hell of a lot more fun," Sale said, with a twisted grin.

* * *

It wasn't a long fight.

BlackJack had charged down the hall towards Rocket, slashing his dagger violently as he ran. The raccoon lifted his rifle and set the charge to 'stun mode.'

"BlackJack, stop!" Rocket yelled.

This didn't seem to faze the rabbit, as he seemed to actually speed up upon hearing him. BlackJack was frantic, and missed his footing. He tripped on himself, and fell over, face-planting into the hard ground with a unnerving _crunch!_

"Oh, fuck!" Rocket exclaimed.

"Shit! Is...Is...he okay?" Lylla said.

Rocket slowly walked over to the downed rabbit. BlackJack was lying still, face down, and appeared unconscious. The raccoon tentatively tapped his unmoving head with the barrel of his rifle, to no result. Rocket turned towards Lylla, then motioned toward the room they'd just left.

"Grab his arms, let's bring in that room."

And so they did, dragging the lifeless body into the cluttered room. Shutting the door behind him, Rocket turned to see Lylla crouching down beside the rabbit, softly bringing a paw to caress his face. The raccoon approached her.

"Uh...Is he okay?" Rocket asked.

"Yeah, he just hit his head, he'll wake up soon."

Some time had passed, while the two caught their breaths and examined the rabbit.

Lylla stared at him. She felt her heart flutter a bit, upon being in his presence again. The otter felt the fur of her lover's cheek, stroking it softly. She then felt a flood of morose thoughts, realizing his state and Judson Jake's hold on him.

Curious, she moved closer and gripped his large, red goggles, pushing them up.

She never could have known it was that bad.

Lylla gasped in utter terror at the sight. BlackJack's eyes were receded, blackened, cracked with dried blood, and sunken into the recesses of his skull.

Rocket quickly rushed to her side, wrapping her in a huge and pulling her further away from the unconscious body of BlackJack. With a quick motion, he slid the goggles back over the rabbit's damaged eyes, and took to comforting Lylla as she began to cry.

"Jack! He's-...he's...-"

"Lylla, Shh...It's okay! It's okay, we'll-"

"Is...is he dead!? W-what's wrong with him, Rocket?!"

"It was Judson...he did this, but...but we'll fix it!"

"How?! How could we-"

"We'll figure something out! I promise! Now, we-we gotta find Sale before this happens to her too. She could help us, she's really smart and-"

Rocket didn't get to finish, as in that moment, a loud, deep siren had begun to sound throughout the entire building.

Alarm sirens.

"Fuck...they must've noticed O'Hare missing. We really gotta get moving!"

"Are we just gonna leave him here?"

"Well, we can't take him with us!"

The sounds of rapid approaching footsteps began emitting from down the hall, approaching the door at a rapid rate.

"Lylla! Now!" Rocket shouted.

The otter seemed to snap out of her emotional trance, and she furrowed her brow and realized the situation. She leaned in and quickly kissed the rabbit on his cheek.

"I'll see you again..." Lylla whispered.

The two then took off into the vents, just as Judson's rabbits charged into the room.

"They're heading into the vents! Shoot them!" One yelled.

And in seconds, the two were assaulted by an array of bullets, just narrowly missing them.

The interior of the dark ventilation shafts lit up with orange strobes as the two quickly crawled away from the vicinity of the room. The loud, brash gunshots grew more distant as Lylla and Rocket continued down the narrow vent.

Whether it be the loud and abrupt gunshots, or the emotional turmoil of seeing the grotesque and horrifying sight of BlackJack's corroded eyes, the two lost focus as they ran escaped through the vents, and found themselves in a dead end. A sense of dread washed over the two as they realized they were completely lost in the vents, once again.

"Damn it!" Rocket shouted, banging against the steel corners of the walls.

Lylla sat down against the wall, panting.

Then the raccoon realized he was panting too.

"Do you hear that?" Lylla asked, her voice soft and small.

Rocket stopped, and heard a small vibrating rumble from deep down the vents.

Then he felt it.

"Do you feel that?" Rocket asked.

He swallowed, his mouth coarse and dry.

"They turned on the heat."

"Rocket."

"Those bastards, t-they turned the fucking heat up! I'm so fucking sick of being in these goddamn bents! We gotta get outta here!"

"Rocket..."

"Lylla, get up! We gotta leave, we gotta find Sale, I got to find Sale!"

"ROCKET!"

Rocket stopped and looked at her.

Lylla was visibility shaking, and taking deep breaths.

"Calm down, please. I'm...I'm freaking out, I-"

Rocket's heart dropped to the bottom of his chest, and he walked over to her side. As he sat down, he noticed the metal itself was starting to heat up and burn.

"The uhm, metal is getting hot..." He said.

"Who is coming to save us, Rocket?" She whimpered.

"What?"

"We're...we're just fucking around here, you have no idea was he's capable of! He's...he's going to kill us, I thought-...if I could, get through to BlackJack. But I can't. It's just us, and- we're literally fucking cornered!"

"Lylla, listen to me."

"Rocket-"

"Lylla, I've killed douchebags with scarier names than Judson Jakes."

She grinned a little. Rocket continued.

"I'm sure you've heard of my recent endeavors in the Guardians of the Galaxy, Lylla? You must've done your research."

The otter emitted a light chuckle. Rocket felt a sense of calmness and joy wash over him, as he watched his antics lighten her mood, if only just a little.

Making her calm, made him calm.

The ventilation shafts were heating up, and Rocket suddenly felt his sleeveless armor to be too hot. He took to removing it, while continuing to brag to Lylla about his recent achievements as a member of the Guardians, in an effort to comfort her and reassure her of the odds they had against Judson.

All the while, the vents were becoming scorching hot, while the two were undoubtedly lost within the maze of metal tunnels. But no matter the danger, Rocket felt that he needed to distract Lylla from the dire circumstances they were currently in. Eventually, the two were sitting side by side, Lylla idly listening to Rocket talk and calm her down, as her breathing stabilized. Her head was spinning as her the day was a rollercoaster of emotional turmoil.

Lylla furrowed her brow as she focused at a blank spot on the metal in front of her.

Her mind drew a blank, and she felt something odd happen.

"I need him to live."

Rocket frowned.

He pulled her into a hug.

"It's going to be okay."

This mere action bore unexpected consequence. Lylla's stream of memory was sustainable to occasional relapses, if her present circumstances mirrored those that had occurred in an earlier point of her life.

And as she sat there and hugged Rocket's shirtless, sweaty body, it triggered a vivid flashback that she acted out in real time.

They were back on Halfworld, several decades ago, sitting alongside a large pond. There was a large waterfall, crashing down on boulders and filling up the area with crystal-clear water. It was a hot day, and the two had traveled quite a distance to get there. They were out of breath and tired. Rocket was younger, and different. He mentioned the Halfworld Book, and that he had a lead to find it.

"Rocket Raccoon, you told me we were coming here to swim!"

"W-what? What're you talkin' about?"

"Oh, Rocket. You're so silly."

She leaned in and kissed him, wrapping her arms around the raccoon.

As the otter's warm lips pressed to his, Rocket felt a flicker of remembrance to a time, long long ago, where he'd done this before.

 _"NO! WHAT THE FUCK-"_

Rocket pushed Lylla violently against the metal of the vent behind her. This shove seemed to snap Lylla out of her heart-stroke induced flashback trance, as she suddenly came to realize what time she was in. The sight before her was anything but normal, however.

Rocket was clawing at the metal below him, surprisingly causing a lot of damage to the vent.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-" Rocket growled.

"R-Rocket?" Lylla asked.

"Enough FUCKING AROUND!" He barked, pulling out his laser gun, and aiming it at the floor of the vent just mere inches behind him.

"Rocket, wait!"

But he already fired.

The foundation crumbled beneath them, and the two hit the ground with a sharp, hard, thud.

As the metal, cobble, debris and dust settled, Rocket stood up and fiercely analyzed his surroundings.

He stopped, took a deep breath, and chuckled.

"Well that was easy." He deadpanned, for in front of him, inscribed on the concrete walls, read _'Maximum Security Holding Cells.'_

Before him, stood five doors. With his Laser Gun set to maximum charge, he took after the rightmost door. He aimed it right at the center of the thick concrete slab, and fired with no hesitation. It shattered like glass under the might of Rocket's armament. Before the thick gray dust could even begin to clear, the raccoon charged inside the small room.

"Sale!? Sale are you in here?!" He shouted.

No answer.

His heart fell to his stomach for a brief moment, only to realize he had four more rooms to check.

Making a quick scan of the room and finding nothing, he ran backwards into the hall and fired into the second door. It gave way just as easily. He charged inside to much of the same, an empty room. His heart sunk deeper. After running out and taking out the third room's door, he growled intensely to find there was nothing inside. The fourth was the same, and Lylla froze in fear as Rocket shouted dozens of expletives at the top of his lungs.

"She's gotta be in here, she's gotta be!"

He charged up his cannon to fire into the last door.

But then it exploded into his face.

There, standing before him, was Sale.

She was holding a cobbled-together laser cannon made of random bits of metal, pipes, and wires.

Her paws were bloodied, and she was panting.

She was the most beautiful thing Rocket had ever seen.

Likewise, Sale froze, completely overwhelmed with the amount of information her brain was processing in the same second. She assumed the worst had happened to Rocket, however illogical that was. But there he was, alive and well.

And she reveled in his appearance. His large, heavy laser cannon was resting in his arms – muscles bulging from his biceps, sweat glistening and...he was shirtless. Her mouth became extremely dry and she choked on her words.

"Hi." Sale said.

"Hey." Rocket said.

She nervously fiddled with the now burnt-out barrel of her scrap-heap rifle.

"Did you uh, make that in there?"

"Yeah. I, uh, built it from the wires in the floor. Simple overloading of high-voltage cables-"

"That's really clever, but, I was here to save you."

"What fucking took you so long, Rocket?"

"What took _me_ so long?! How'd you get captured by some wimpy insane rabbit?!"

"Fuck you! There was tons of them, and Judson-"

"Judson?! What'd he do to you?"

"He just, put me to sleep and, I ended up here-"

"Did he hypnotize you!?"

"What? No. He can do that?"

"Oh, god." Rocket said, wrapping his arms around Sale. She reciprocated the hug, albeit slowly and nervously.

"I'm so fucking glad you're okay, Sale."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." She whispered, her heart thumping harder and faster than it ever had in her entire life.

He pulled back from the hug to meet her eyes. He placed a paw on her cheek, caressing it gently and softly.

"I...just...I love you. I love you more than anything!" He cried.

Sale sighed with passion.

"I love you too, Rocket. So fucking much."

She brought her paw to his face, Rocket sliding his hand up to cup her paw against his own cheek.

"I missed you like fucking crazy." He whispered, leaning closer to her.

"Me too." She breathed out.

"So...we gotta escape."

"Yeah."

"Gotta take down Judson Jakes."

"Yeah."

"Time is of the essence, and stuff."

"Yeah."

"But...I-"

"We're fucking, right now."

"F-fuck, yeah-" Rocket huffed, pushing Sale up against the concrete wall. He began to take her shirt off when Lylla had entered.

"There you are, Rocket! Who's this?"

Immediately, the two separated. Sale pulled down her shirt, with Rocket trying to help, but ending up making the scene worse.

"Rocket, stop-"

"Lylla, this is Sale."

"I'm Sale. Rocket's girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Rocket asked, surprised.

Sale shot him a glare.

"Girlfriend! Yeah! Sale's my girlfriend." He added.

"Uh, okay." Lylla responded, confused.

"And, who are you?" Sale asked.

"I'm an...old friend of Rocket's."

"That's funny. He never mentioned you."

An air of awkwardness and silence washed over them.

The three stared at one another, for several minutes.

"Wait...do you guys hear that?" Lylla asked, looking around, startled.

"No." Rocket and Lylla said in perfect unison, before looking at one another with a fond smirk.

"Exactly. The alarms are off..."

Lylla slowly stepped back into the hallway, softly on her tips of her paw pads.

"Lylla, wait!" Rocket said.

Rocket took after her, walking into the hallway. He was surprised to find that it was completely empty. Sale followed, closely behind Rocket.

The three continued down the hallway, with an eerie sense of dread floating over them.

The silence was deafening, and unsettling.

"What the fuck? Where'd they go?" Rocket snapped.

Sale looked to him, inquisitively.

"There was tons of these crazy-looking rabbits chasing us."

Then Lylla picked up her pace, heading for the storage closet where they'd left BlackJack.

The two raccoons followed the otter as she raced down the halls, coming to an abrupt stop as she turned into a small closet and froze. As the two caught up, they saw a mess of a storage room. With no one inside.

"Where could he have gone?" Lylla whispered.

"Who?" Sale asked.

"BlackJack O'Hare. The bunny that beat you." Rocket deadpanned.

"He didn't beat me!"

BOOM!

The three were interrupted by the loud, deafening sound of an explosion. The ground shook and the walls shifted, as the lights flickered and turned an ominous red.

Rocket instinctively went to protect Sale, rushing over and wrapping her in his arms. Just then, their visions were reduced to a blank whiteness, and a high-pitched ringing in their ears.

The room in front of them had exploded in a bright, white inferno.

The shockwave sent the three flying backwards into the opposite wall.

As Rocket regained his consciousness, he furrowed his brow and squinted his eyes to see through the smoke ahead. As the dust and debris settled, a cavernous hole in the building was revealed, leading to the outside world, where a large spacecraft idled in the air, aiming a threatening cannon in their direction.

Then the ship fired again.

The last thing Rocket recalled was the distinct shape of a mole behind the cockpit glass — and a blinding white flash. Then it was over.


	8. Escape

**Rocket and the Imp**

 **Chapter Eight — Escape**

* * *

There was darkness.

Nothing.

But gradually, his mind came back to him.

In the incoherent static of his scattered memories, there always remained one constant throughout the chaos.

His name.

And soon he heard it.

First a low buzz, then a muffled voice, and then…

"Rocket!" She shouted.

His eyes snapped open, quickly squinting in exposure to the bright lights above.

He tried to move, but he couldn't.

Looking down, he saw he was bound to a metal chair.

Looking back up, he saw a steel table, and a laser grid.

And to his left and right were Lylla and Sale, also bound.

Immediately, he jolted upright, fighting against his restraints in attempt to assist them.

"Well, finally!" Sale exclaimed, angrily.

"Where are we? What happened?!" Rocket asked.

"Judson..." Lylla sighed. "He beamed us onto his ship and tied us up here."

Rocket grew even angrier, and pulled his arms up as hard as he could, but was still held back by the heavy chains constricting around him.

"What, too scared to fight fair?!" Rocket shouted past the laser field, into the darkness of Judson's ship.

Then, the lights came on.

And there he stood.

"I can assure you..." Judson said, stepping into the light. "Even without your restraints, it would not be a fair fight, Rocket."

"Well take them off and let's see!" He barked.

"What the fuck do you want?!" Sale snapped.

"What do I want?" The mole repeated, a bit confused and angry. "What do I want?!"

He stepped closer to the field, his dark, bitter eyes becoming illuminated. He waved his claws around erratically, and a round field of intense white energy materialized from thin air.

And on that field, images began to appear — a beautiful scenic view of great mountains, clear skies and rolling hills.

"A beautiful world," Judson rasped. "A perfect world."

Then the images began to change.

The skies turned red and the green to black. The forests withered away and the vegetation died.

"Abandoned and left to die."

Rocket rolled his eyes.

"Sorry about your home, dude." He deadpanned.

" _OUR_ HOME!" Judson yelled. "But you all got too big for your britches and left! Left me here alone! With no one!"

"We moved on, found lives out there. Why couldn't you?!" Lylla asked.

"No, no, no." Judson snickered. "I am not going to settle for anything less. I can take us back. Back to the way things should be. So everything could be perfect."

"That's impossible!" Sale barked.

"NO IT'S NOT!" Judson yelled.

The mole flicked his claws and the images dissipated into thin air. He then summoned a bright ball of green energy from his left paw.

"I just needed to get the book back, which I have." Judson snickered. "And you three, which I have!"

The round green orb grew brighter and more intense. Large, spinning tendrils began to emerge from it, shaking violently and moving towards the three.

"Now submit to the power of the Half World Book and we can turn back the clock!" Judson shouted.

Rocket had to think quickly. He knew what would happen to them all if they were corrupted by Judson's mind magic - they'd be a withered husk of a person like BlackJack O'Hare!

He looked around and assessed their situation. They were strapped to chairs; their hands and feet where encased in a hard steel. There was a metal table in front of them, and a laser grid between them and Judson.

What could he do?

The menacing tendrils of evil green energy approached further, penetrating the laser grid moving towards each of the mammals' heads.

He then felt something tap his hip.

He looked over and saw Sale's tail aggressively brushing against his side.

" _Tail!"_ He realized.

Their tails weren't bound to anything. The chairs were also not stuck to the floor. If he tried hard enough, he could stand.

He looked to Sale, a devious grin spread across his face, then looked to Lylla, offering a reassuring smirk.

Rocket used his tail to flip the table as hard as he could.

He leaned forward and got on his feet, running into the table as it blocked the laser's rays for a few moments, allowing the mammal to safely get through.

His tail was singed and the table was completely incinerated by the time he'd hit the floor. It was an extremely close call, but he had no time to dwell on it. He shot up and reoriented himself to face Judson.

The mystical mole shot him a hateful gaze, and quickly turned to face him. In doing so, the beams of evil green energy previously targeting the three, all turned towards where Rocket was standing, and burned through the walls of the ship wherever they were aimed.

Rocket quickly ducked, and caught sight of how the energy was melting the walls. Instantly, a plan formed in his head, and he sprung to action.

The raccoon ran across the ship, keeping ahead of the beams, and sprinted past the ship's controls, leading Judson to inadvertently obliterate them and cause catastrophic damage.

The lights illuminated to maximum brightness, and then imploded from the ceiling and walls.

One particularly large fixture dropped from the ceiling and crashed onto Judson, before he had a chance to stop it.

The ship was then completely dark, and due to the now-stopped engines, began to descent quickly.

Rocket, using his excellent night-vision, scrambled to his feet and scanned the room for Sale and Lylla. He saw them, still bound to the chairs, but the laser field had been deactivated, along with all of the other's ships controls.

In the darkness of the falling spacecraft, Rocket ran over to Sale and Lylla.

"Fuck, Rocket! What'd you do?!" Sale shouted.

"I, uh, improvised. Now stay still while I break these cuffs." Rocket panted.

The raccoon wrapped both of his paws around the metal, and, using all of the cybernetically-enhanced strength he could muster, he pulled as hard as he could.

The metal bindings started to weaken under the combined strength of both his arms, and eventually broke apart.

He quickly moved over to the other hand restraint, wasting no time in freeing Sale, all the while the Behemoth was quickly losing altitude and plummeting somewhere fast.

While doing so, he turned to glance at the main view port of the ship, and his blood ran cold at the sight.

The ship was rapidly heading directly towards the center of Judson's towering laboratory.

Rocket removed Sale's second hand brace, and snapped the chain that was wrapped around her.

She immediately shot up and grabbed his raccoon cheek fluff with both paws, and brought it to her own face with a fiery kiss.

Rocket indulged for a moment, but quickly broke the kiss.

"Help me get Lylla out," he panted.

"Oh please, by all means, take your time!" Lylla barked.

The two rushed to her sides and made quick work of the collars around her wrists and the chain around her body.

Soon she was free and the three looked ahead to a grim sight.

Judson Jakes, rising from the debris of the damaged ceiling, with hatred and glowing green energy in his eyes.

And the main view port behind him, revealing the ship was moments away from plowing into the building.

"YOU'RE ALL DEAD-"

Crash!

The pressure glass shattered first, and there was little the three could do as the ship barreled into the lab. And in an instant, everything turned black.

* * *

The rabbit awoke to the thunderous roar of a nearby explosion.

He watched as the walls shook as dust and debris rained from the ceiling, and he knew in an instant that his master needed him.

BlackJack flicked a switch on his goggles, effectively giving him thermal heat-seeking vision and allowing him to see through walls.

He could see dozens of rabbits scattering about on each level of the building, but could distinctly make out the shapes of two raccoons, an otter, and a mole on the floor above him.

He leapt out of his bed and ran to the door. Stepping out into the hallway, he could see that large portions of the ceiling had fallen down and caused rubble to be scattered everywhere. The dire state of the building could only mean one thing — Judson Jakes was in danger.

BlackJack was further fueled by an intense instinctual need to get to Judson, a fire raging in his heart that kept the blood an icy cold in his veins. As the rabbit sprinted through the building, up the stars and over debris, his mind was filled with a focused, yet chaotic static, just as it had been for the past few years.

Within minutes, he was at the scene of the crash. The rabbit saw through the dense smoke and destroyed ship, and could make out a distinct outline of his leader, clearly injured.

Just as he had begun to sprint over, he heard something behind him.


End file.
